Performativity as ongoing journeys: Implications for strategy,entrepreneurship, and innovation

For the most part, strategy, entrepreneurship, and innovation have been researched and practiced from a representational position. In this paper, we make a case for taking a performative turn. Strategists, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs are embedded-embodied actors who engage in material-discursive practices in their attempts at constituting phenomena. Overflows, which are inevitable given dispersion of agency, give rise to matters of concern for multiple stakeholder groups. Settlements between stakeholders are temporary, as phenomena will be de-constituted when constitutive arrangements change. Consequently, the projects and initiatives that strategists, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs undertake are best seen as ongoing journeys.     

A framework for evaluating the benefits of collaborative technologies in engineering innovation networks

In times of rapid economic change, the decrease in knowledge value becomes inversely proportional to its speed of obsolescence, with successful organisations seeking to connect more rapidly and more effectively with others in the creation of new knowledge. The past decade has seen a growing interest in communities of practice as a method for transferring and generating knowledge within product development, rooted as they are in the nature of knowledge creation as a socially embedded process. Given the widespread adoption of collaborative technologies as facilitative platforms for innovation in the interactions of contemporary communities of practice, the objective of this research is to develop an evaluation paradigm and employ it to examine how such interaction is facilitated through the medium of Web 2.0 technologies. The contribution of this research to theory and innovation technology practice will be to further the understanding of collaborative technologies by examining the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on engineering innovation networks. Furthermore, it brings together the three diverse research areas of technology innovation, internet collaborative tools and psychological barriers and enablers.     

Reflections on grounding firm innovation and viability

Entrepreneurial activity unfolds in a dynamic environment that challenges business viability. We utilize grounded theory as a novel type of reflection to explain and interpret whether and how innovation can afford survival benefits to firms. The premise is the application of a methodological approach with reflexive properties to advance scientific rigor in “reflections.” The idea underlying our reflection was to use innovation as the point of departure, review the literature, conceptualize ideas, and finally link the concepts that emerged as components of a framework. Our view of the firm resembles a viable entity that changes, constantly striving to meet and balance internal potentials and external complexities, while innovation per se involves change that is made possible by entrepreneurship. We bring together our personal and professional backgrounds and implement the European scholarly tradition on innovation and Viable Systems approach to scrutinize innovation’s interactions and relations. We linked boundary conditions, opportunities, and complementary assets to innovation. Effectively, our analysis conceptualizes innovation as autopoiesis in entrepreneurship and demonstrates its central role as the vehicle to exploit changes that ensure firm viability.     

A conceptual framework for nurse staffing management

Hospitals are under increasing pressure to contain cost and nurse staffing has been singled out as an area with high potential for efficiency improvement. Despite the multitude of nurse staffing studies conducted, many important aspects have been neglected and few innovations have been successfully implemented. This paper presents a framework that includes all management tasks that affect staff effectiveness including systems design, forecasting, planning, coordination, and performance monitoring. A consistent terminology is developed and several previously ignored dimensions of the nurse staffing process are discussed. Finally, an outline for a decision-oriented information system is presented.     

A conceptual framework for understanding the outsourcing decision

Outsourcing is an increasingly important initiative being pursued by corporations in North America and Europe in pursuit of improved efficiency. This paper provides a conceptual framework to assist managers in identifying and implementing outsourcing decisions. In particular, the framework suggests a way for managers to identify the pre- and post-contractual risks associated with outsourcing decisions along with strategies that can be implemented in the pre-contractual stage in order to mitigate those risks. Empirical findings from the ‘transactions cost' literature are referenced to illustrate elements of our conceptual framework.     

Towards an integrative framework of innovation network for new product development project

The increasing complexity of product and radical changing environment lead companies towards innovation network (IN) collaboration. Although recent researches highlight the importance and benefits of innovation network (IN) to new product development (NPD), this subject is still developing and it has the potential to expand into new dimensions. However, there is a significant lack in the literature regarding holistic, systematic and integrated framework when it comes to manipulating the challenge of true NPD projects. The current researches mainly focus on the strategy level which provides less application guidance for NPD. Thus, in this work, the authors propose an integrative framework of innovation network for NPD based on the literature review. In addition, a case study of new refrigerator development reveals the feasibility and potentials of the overall framework to its broad usage in industry.     

Innovation timing advantages: From economic theory to strategic application

First and second mover theory, as developed in industrial organization economics, maintains that firms can gain competitive advantage by using optimal timing in the introduction of innovations. Because the industry is the unit of analysis, the theory does not provide specific guidance for individual firms. We analyze the underlying sources of first and second mover timing advantages and clarify several issues regarding the basic theory. We then identify a variety of factors at the industry, firm and product/service levels and develop propositions showing their relations to individual firms in their efforts to benefit from timing advantages. We discuss the link which these indicator factors provide between economic theory and strategic timing choices. Finally, we suggest directions for research which would assist firms and their managers in selecting and pursuing innovation timing strategies.     

Framing the multifaceted nature of design thinking in addressing different innovation purposes

Scholars and practitioners acknowledge the role of design, and specifically design thinking, as a driver of innovation and change. Design thinking is gaining attention in the business community beyond the traditional product innovation realm and is increasingly promoted as an engine for the creation of novel user experiences, new businesses, strategic transformation, organizational and cultural change. Is it reasonable to assume that the same set of practices fits such a broad range of applications equally well? This study addresses how design thinking applications are differently framed when addressing diverse innovation purposes. Specifically, we compare two purposes: innovation of solutions, encompassing traditional product and service development projects, and innovation of direction, encompassing strategic and organizational renewal projects. Based on data collected from 146 design thinking projects conducted by European consulting firms we investigate the relationships between the design thinking practices adopted and the value generated by the projects. We then analyze how these relationships vary depending on the purpose of the innovation project, namely whether focused on innovating solutions or direction. The results show that different purposes indeed call for different practices. In projects aimed at innovating solutions, market value is positively related to capturing current user needs and envisioning future society. Conversely, in projects aimed at innovating direction, market value is positively related to challenging current assumptions.     

Frugality-based advantage

We analyze frugality-based advantage and explain its types and implications. Frugality-based advantage is an advantage that a firm achieves over competitors in its ability to develop and use frugal innovations, that is, innovations that overcome external resource constraints. We differentiate among three types of frugality-based advantages based on the external constraints they solve: (1) Input frugality-based advantage, which is the result of addressing restrictions in the provision of inputs needed for the production process; (2) Income frugality-based advantage, which is driven by solving limitations in the income of consumers; and (3) Infrastructure frugality-based advantage, which is the outcome of resolving constraints in the hard and soft infrastructure of the country. We explain how these three types of frugality-based advantages differ in their transferability across locations and their sustainability across time. Frugality-based advantage complements the resource-based view by explaining how the scarcity of external resources, rather than their abundance, can support the advantage of some firms.     

Strategy implementation: A review and an introductory framework

Effective strategy implementation is a critical component of organizational success and a potential source of competitive advantage. However, despite many calls for increased attention, research on the subject remains a disparate constellation of recommendations, case studies, and empirical work that provides insight but lacks a cohesive framework. As a result, strategy research most often treats implementation as a black box and overlooks sources of performance heterogeneity derived from differences in strategy implementation effectiveness. To improve our understanding of the strategy implementation process, and to promote its inclusion in strategy research, the authors systematically review and synthesize findings in the extant strategy implementation literature to abductively derive an integrative framework comprised of three components: (1) actions through which managers influence the implementation process, (2) conditions necessary for strategy implementation effectiveness, and (3) the underlying dynamic managerial capabilities to create the best possible combination of conditions by enacting the most appropriate managerial actions. By explaining the relationships among these three components, we provide an introductory foundational framework on which to build future knowledge about this important field of inquiry.     

Developing corporate policies for innovation: A program of action

This article is based on a speech by the Chairman of Control Data Corporation about the problems of innovation in the long range view—for both the company and the country. The author describes himself as a practicing innovator rather than a theorist and he therefore focuses more on the how to do it than on the philosophical ‘why’.     

Developing strategic alliances: A conceptual framework for successful co-operation

Due to dramatically increasing global competition and in the light of Europe '92, companies have to concentrate on their particular competitive advantages and on those business activities they know well. The market, however, asks for an ever increasing range of products and services. ‘System deals’ include — along with a product — attractive sideline services, like project management, system implementation or supply of related products. In many cases, entering these markets or achieving technological breakthroughs is only possible with a strong partner.These recent developments forced corporations to consider alternative company structures. The failure of many strategic alliances, however, has clearly shown that understanding the development process of the alliance is critical for success. Christoph Bronder and Rudolf Pritzl present a structured procedure for developing strategic alliances that outlines four critical phases: strategic decision for an alliance, alliance configuration, partner selection, and alliance management.     

Implementation of manufacturing strategy: A select study of Indian process companies

This paper presents findings of an extensive survey of Indian process companies. Based on the survey, three companies have been selected for detailed case studies. Their experiences in the manufacturing strategy process are analysed. Although the companies represented diversity in terms of product type, sales volume, longevity and geographic location, they shared several commonalities including use of advanced manufacturing technologies. The process of strategy formulation varied among the companies in terms of participants, complexity and degree of formalization. Competitive priorities, order winners and critical success factors are identified for these companies. Based on strategic manufacturing issues, manufacturing competence index for the companies has been worked out.     

The extended dynamic capabilities model: A meta-analysis

This paper investigates, from meta-analytic approach, some topics that were unexplored in others dynamic capabilities meta-analysis. Hence, our research advances to identify and test the main antecedents of dynamic capabilities, the possible moderation effects of economic and cultural contexts in the relationship between dynamic capabilities and firm performance and the mediation effects between the antecedents of dynamic capabilities and firm performance. (1) The elements that stimulate dynamic capabilities development are resources, knowledge and learning, alliances and environmental dynamism. However, entrepreneurial orientation has no direct relationship with dynamic capabilities. (2) Dynamic capabilities play a mediating role between resources, knowledge and learning, alliances and firm performance. Curiously, entrepreneurial orientation is not mediated by dynamic capabilities in relation to performance. (3) Economic and cultural moderation affect the relation between dynamic capabilities and performance. Surprisingly, we detected that an Eastern orientation, presenting a high level of power distance and a low level of individualism, promotes stronger effects in the relationship between dynamic capabilities and firm performance than a Western orientation. Thus, our main contribution is to broaden the previous research on dynamic capabilities and to propose a future research agenda. In addition, this study adds new empirical evidence to the study of dynamic capabilities, which reduces the heterogeneity of previous results.     

Designing interorganizational networks for innovation: An empirical examination of network configuration, formation and governance

Strategic SME networks have received significant policy attention, yet a review of the current literature reveals limited attention to the factors that contribute to network innovation. This study examines the influence of the number of member firms (network size), the extent to which a network is based on firm incentives (bottom-up formation), and the extent of development of the governance structure (size of administrative function) on a network's innovative performance. Latent growth modeling with longitudinal data from 53 networks reveals that larger networks and bottom-up formed networks achieve greater innovative performance, and that the administrative function partially mediates these effects.     

A conceptual framework for the study of work and mental health

The key features which influence mental health both in jobs and unemployment are brought together within a single perspective. Three principal axes of affective well-being are identified as warranting investigation, and it is suggested that nine environmental features are of primary importance. The impact of these features on mental health is viewed as analogous to the influence of vitamins on physical health, with an explicit non-linearity in the relationship. This 'vitamin model' is extended to permit examination of individual differences (for example, in terms of baseline values and specific matching characteristics), and empirical evidence is summarized. It is concluded from previous research that job features do not interact synergistically in relation to employee well-being, although this possibility may not yet have been adequately tested. The framework is suggested to be adequately comprehensive, but, as is the case with other models, it requires development in respect of the specific mechanisms operating between environmental features and mental health.     

A conceptual framework for the study of work and mental health

Abstract

The key features which influence mental health both in jobs and unemployment are brought together within a single perspective. Three principal axes of affective well-being are identified as warranting investigation, and it is suggested that nine environmental features are of primary importance. The impact of these features on mental health is viewed as analogous to the influence of vitamins on physical health, with an explicit non-linearity in the relationship. This ‘vitamin model’ is extended to permit examination of individual differences (for example, in terms of baseline values and specific matching characteristics), and empirical evidence is summarized. It is concluded from previous research that job features do not interact synergistically in relation to employee well-being, although this possibility may not yet have been adequately tested. The framework is suggested to be adequately comprehensive, but, as is the case with other models, it requires development in respect of the specific mechanisms operating between environmental features and mental health.