The Influence of Service Orientation on B2B e‐Service Capabilities: An Empirical Investigation

E‐Services, or the company's portfolio of service offerings available to its customers through the Internet, are an emerging area of interest to operations management. Yet little is known about the operations and capabilities needed for provision of business‐to‐business (B2B) e‐services. This paper aims to make a contribution toward closing this gap. First, we develop a new construct of B2B e‐service capability, a term that captures a generic set of five interrelated and complementary dimensions: (1) e‐service recovery, (2) e‐customization, (3) ease of navigation, (4) service portfolio comprehensiveness, and (5) information richness. These combined operational abilities are associated with B2B service delivery, including its portal design, technology architecture, and mix of product and service offerings. They are posited to be necessary for delivering effective B2B e‐services. We also argue that, both service orientation (SO) and customer receptivity to technology, influence B2B e‐service capability. We empirically test a path model using structural equation modeling on a sample of 181 businesses that have deployed B2B e‐services. We find that the influence of SO on performance is not direct but rather mediated by the e‐service capability, a finding that holds for both goods producers and service providers. We suggest that a firm's SO may mitigate industrial customers' resistance toward conducting business online.     

创新驱动下新零售服务供应链质量协同改进的稳态策略

技术和消费的“双升”加快了新零售服务供应链的形成和产生,同时也通过驱动其质量系统的协同改进及动态演化实现持续的发展。本文从创新驱动质量的动态视角,分析创新驱动下新零售服务供应链中多主体协同质量改进的运行机制和动态演化过程,运用演化博弈方法分析构建多主体协同的动态演化博弈模型,以此分析新零售服务供应链协同质量改进中各参与主体的博弈策略选择,并利用雅克比矩阵判断其策略稳定性。研究表明：在多元参与主体利益诉求得到满足的前提下,多主体协同质量改进能够保持系统稳定状态;多主体间的质量势差与协同质量改进稳定性呈现出反比关系;良好的质量协同效应、独立的内部监督机制等能有效的促进协同质量改进系统稳定。     

Developing Absorptive Capacity Theory for Public Service Organizations: Emerging UK Empirical Evidence

A strong public policy focus on high performance means that utilizing management knowledge effectively is at a premium for UK public service organizations. This study empirically examined two English public agencies to explore the inter‐sectoral transfer of a strategic management model originally developed in the private sector – absorptive capacity – which is one way of conceptualizing an organizational competence in such knowledge mobilization. Two theoretical contributions are made. First, a new absorptive capacity framework for public service organizations is developed which recognizes the participation of public agency project teams during an innovation process proceeding over time with phases of co‐creation, testing, metamorphosis and diffusion. Second, our novel framework modifies an early influential model of absorptive capacity. Counter to this model, we argue that realized absorptive capacity requires agency from skilled and embedded actors to turn ‘curbing routines’ into ‘enabling routines’ in all four stages. Project (middle) managers have flexibility in their roles to seize episodic moments of opportunity to innovate and achieve service delivery goals, and to build absorptive capacity capability. Absorptive capacity capability develops organically over time. Future research directions are discussed.     

Building global dynamic capabilities through innovation: A case study of Taiwan's cultural organizations

This case study analyzes global dynamic capabilities, firm specific advantages (FSAs), and the international expansion of cultural enterprises in Taiwan from the viewpoint of sustainable development. From our exploratory study, we identify six global dynamic capabilities as the driving forces behind the creation of new cultural products that revitalize a company through continuous innovation. Each global dynamic capability actually leverages the company's resources. The case study results show that technology-based FSAs help cultural organizations globalize their business and create value. There are two global expansion paths that cultural organizations can take to increase value which are discussed in our paper.     

Linking Dynamic Absorptive Capacity and Service Innovation for Born Global Service Firms: An Organization Innovation Lens Perspective

Grounded in the dynamic capabilities approach and organizational sub-system view on internationalization, this quantitative study develops and empirically tests a model of international market performance of born global service firms. While several scholars highlighted innovativeness as a driver of competitiveness for born global firms, the capacities underlying the born global firm's innovativeness have received limited scholarly attention, specifically, dynamic absorptive capacities (exploratory, transformative, and exploitative learning capacities). The uniqueness of this paper posits that dynamic absorptive capacities in a born global service firm have contributed to innovation and resulted in international market outcomes. The data was collected using the survey method from born global service firms and was analyzed using structured equation modeling. The findings of this study reveal that service innovation and business strategy are critical drivers of international performance for born global service firms. The paper contributes to the literature on the significance of absorptive capacity in born global service firms by identifying those dynamic absorptive capacities that operate in a composite set of relationships with other capabilities and significantly contribute to their innovation, impacting their internationalization outcomes. This study also supplements the theoretical and practical implications derived from the key findings of this study and provides future research directions.     

Inter‐Organizational Fit,Relationship Management Capability,and Collaborative Performance within a Humanitarian Setting

Donors and governments are increasingly calling for more collaborative relationships between humanitarian organizations (HOs), to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian operations by exchanging information, knowledge, and resources. This study examines the relative efficacy of partners' characteristics (i.e., compatibility and resource complementarity) and partners' relationship management capability on collaborative relationships, incorporating mutual trust and reciprocal commitment as two mediator constructs. We use Partial Least Squares to examine the proposed hypotheses using a sample of 191 respondents. Data are collected through a web‐survey of international humanitarian non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in countries across Africa, Asia, and South America. The results reveal that (i) resource complementarity and relationship management capability are significant factors influencing collaborative performance through their effects on partners' mutual trust and reciprocal commitment, and that (ii) partners' compatibility (i.e., missions, values, and operational methods) does not significantly drive success or failure of collaboration between international NGOs. These results suggest that given the present diversity of HOs' characteristics, the success of collaboration is associated with the partners' level of understanding of each other's objectives, operations, and values, and to the extent to which organizations efficiently communicate and coordinate their joint activities. The managerial implications of the findings are also discussed.     

Big Data Analytics Capabilities and Innovation: The Mediating Role of Dynamic Capabilities and Moderating Effect of the Environment

With big data analytics growing rapidly in popularity, academics and practitioners have been considering the means through which they can incorporate the shifts these technologies bring into their competitive strategies. Drawing on the resource‐based view, the dynamic capabilities view, and on recent literature on big data analytics, this study examines the indirect relationship between a big data analytics capability (BDAC) and two types of innovation capabilities: incremental and radical. The study extends existing research by proposing that BDACs enable firms to generate insight that can help strengthen their dynamic capabilities, which in turn positively impact incremental and radical innovation capabilities. To test their proposed research model, the authors used survey data from 175 chief information officers and IT managers working in Greek firms. By means of partial least squares structural equation modelling, the results confirm the authors’ assumptions regarding the indirect effect that BDACs have on innovation capabilities. Specifically, they find that dynamic capabilities fully mediate the effect on both incremental and radical innovation capabilities. In addition, under conditions of high environmental heterogeneity, the impact of BDACs on dynamic capabilities and, in sequence, incremental innovation capability is enhanced, while under conditions of high environmental dynamism the effect of dynamic capabilities on incremental innovation capabilities is amplified.     

Dynamic Pricing in e‐Services under Demand Uncertainty

High volatility of the e‐services market, due to increasing competition, low life cycle of products, and easy availability of information about competing service offerings to customers, makes the demand for service offerings quite uncertain. Revenue management in such markets calls for real‐time techniques to learn the demand and its dependence on both the price and the service level associated with the service offering. We assume firms reply on exploratory approaches for demand estimation, in which firms experiment with different service offerings in order to simultaneously learn the demand while doing business. Such exploration and learning process can be costly without supervision. As reported by Rothschild (Journal of Economic Theory, 9 185‐202, 1974), traditional Bayesian dynamic control approaches may conclude with suboptimal offerings. We propose a novel demand learning approach that is guaranteed to converge to the optimal offering. The approach combines simulated annealing algorithm with Bayesian learning. We further present intelligent techniques that adaptively reduce the effort of exploration on suboptimal service offerings so as to improve the long‐run average profit.     

Inter‐organizational Cooperation and Environmental Change: Moderating Effects between Flexibility and Innovation Performance

The paper investigates the moderator effect of inter‐organizational cooperation in the relationship between workplace flexibility and innovation performance. This research question is important because innovation is dependent on the strategic integration of technological knowledge, requiring organizations to acquire new capabilities rapidly or to ensure the presence of knowledge that may be beyond existing internal capabilities. Inter‐organizational cooperation constitutes a relevant mechanism for a firm to increase its knowledge base concerning new products and processes. High‐cooperation firms may have more opportunities to take advantage of flexibility for innovation performance because it facilitates the access and dispersion of knowledge within the firm. We test the research hypotheses in a sample of manufacturing and service firms. The results contribute to the literature on flexibility and innovation because they demonstrate that inter‐organizational cooperation moderates the relationship between flexibility and innovation performance. We discuss the implications of these results for future research and managerial practice.     

基于MAS的移动服务链协同工作机制研究

基于多智能体系统（multi agent system,MAS）原理,对移动服务链的竞争和协同工作机制进行了模拟研究。首先,建立了门户,接入服务提供商、产品／服务商驱动和无线网络服务提供商之间的动态竞争和协同工作方式的优化模型;其次,基于进化算法,在Repast构架上,用java实现以上三种工作机制的多代理模拟系统;最后设计模拟实验场景,对三种工作机制下多期平均利润和风险等模拟结果进行对比分析,结果表明,协同工作方式较另外两种竞争机制,服务链总利润更高,设计合理的约束条件,能有效降低服务链利润风险。     

Managerial Networking and Stakeholder Support in Public Service Organizations

Resource dependence theory suggests that to function successfully, organizations must obtain certain resources controlled by actors in their environment. To do this effectively, managers often develop networking relationships with key stakeholder groups in order to make critical resources available. Managers in public service organizations, in particular, are frequently under great pressure to network with relevant actors from stakeholder groups in order to build support for service (co)production and legitimacy for strategic and operational decisions. To identify networking strategies which are conducive to stakeholder support, we explore the networking behaviour of over 1,000 English local government managers. Fuzzy cluster analysis identifies four distinctive, though inter-related types of managerial networking: technical, reputational, political, and tokenistic. The cluster membership functions from this analysis are used to examine the relationship between types of networking and stakeholder support in depth. The results of hierarchical regression analysis suggest that technically-orientated networking is the most conducive to stakeholder support, with tokenistic networking the least conducive.     

基于数字化技术共建“和而不同”动态能力--2011~2020年索菲亚与经销商的纵向案例研究

如何解决组织间管理认知对跨组织动态能力的负面影响,既是双元动态能力研究的前沿课题,也是管理实践的难题。本文以“和而不同”的中国哲学思想为基础,通过对2011~2020年索菲亚与经销商的纵向案例研究发现:(1)适度变化与高度动荡两种环境类型决定了合作组织间一致(“和”)或不一致(“不和”)的管理认知。数字化技术通过削弱跨组织异质性资源的不匹配,促进了一致的管理认知,即实现“和”;同时,通过强化跨组织异质性资源的互补与融合,促进了差异化的创新行动,即实现“不同”;(2)合作组织基于数字化技术构建了合作创新能力和协同变革能力,形成从跨组织异质性资源到跨组织“和而不同”动态能力的构建。据此,本文提出基于数字化技术的跨组织嵌套型双元动态能力模型,扩展了管理认知与跨组织双元动态能力的关系研究而形成理论创新,为管理实践提供了管理认知一致与不一致条件下合作组织共建跨组织动态能力的一种解决方案。     

Explaining the Causes and Effects of Dynamic Capabilities Generation: A Multiple‐Indicator Multiple‐Cause Modelling Approach

The purpose of this paper is to develop a multiple‐indicator multiple‐cause model to explain dynamic capabilities generation. We use one of the main common effects of dynamic capabilities (operational, structural and strategic flexibility) to design a measurement tool for dynamic capabilities generation. Based on this measurement tool, we test the influence of several factors identified in the specialized literature as potential causes that trigger and promote dynamic capabilities generation. We use data from a survey of 200 CEOs of Spanish firms to test the model. The results show that only organizations whose managers have perceived a high degree of environmental dynamism have generated dynamic capabilities. The results also show that knowledge codification and technical innovation are significantly related to dynamic capabilities generation. We attempt to shed light on current theoretical debates about dynamic capabilities generation and provide a practical guide to explain the origin and results of dynamic capabilities that have been tested empirically.     

Ambidexterity as a dynamic capability: Resolving the innovator's dilemma

How do organizations survive in the face of change? Underlying this question is a rich debate about whether organizations can adapt—and if so how. One perspective, organizational ecology, presents evidence suggesting that most organizations are largely inert and ultimately fail. A second perspective argues that some firms do learn and adapt to shifting environmental contexts. Recently, this latter view has coalesced around two themes. The first, based on research in strategy suggests that dynamic capabilities, the ability of a firm to reconfigure assets and existing capabilities, explains long-term competitive advantage. The second, based on organizational design, argues that ambidexterity, the ability of a firm to simultaneously explore and exploit, enables a firm to adapt over time. In this paper, we review and integrate these comparatively new research streams and identify a set of propositions that suggest how ambidexterity acts as a dynamic capability. We suggest that efficiency and innovation need not be strategic tradeoffs and highlight the substantive role of senior teams in building dynamic capabilities.     

学习、创新与动态能力——华南地区企业的实证研究

学习和创新是影响动态能力的重要因素,而动态能力又是企业在越来越复杂和动态的环境中建立和保持竞争优势的基础,但国内外学术界尚未对学习、创新以及动态能力之间的相互影响路径和作用机制进行实证研究。本文以我国华南地区271家企业为对象,对组织学习、知识创新以及动态能力之间的关系进行实证研究。结果表明,知识创新对动态能力具有直接正向影响;组织学习则需要通过以知识创新作为完全中介变量,才能增强动态能力。本文的研究结果为中国企业如何运用组织学习、知识创新来增强动态能力和获得竞争优势提供了有益的借鉴。     

A Dynamic Collaboration Capability as a Source of Competitive Advantage

The resource‐based view of the firm argues the essence of decision making is to determine how firm and supply chain resources can be configured to achieve inimitable advantage and superior performance. However, combining resources found among diverse members of a supply chain requires higher levels of coordination than exist at most companies. Manifest cross‐functional and interorganizational conflict impedes the relational advantages of collaboration. This research employs a multimethod—survey and interview—approach to evaluate collaboration's influence on operational and firm performance. Our findings show that collaboration, as a dynamic capability, mediates the conflict resulting from functional orientations, and improves performance. Specific structural enablers to enhance an organization's collaborative capability are identified and described, providing insight into how firms can exploit interfirm resources for competitive advantage.     

高层管理团队中家族权威与创新能力研究:以家族上市公司为视角

基于我国家族上市公司2001～2005年的面板数据,对高层管理团队中家族权威与创新能力之间的关系,以及组织环境对家族权威的调节作用进行了统计检验。结果表明,家族权威与家族企业的创新能力之间存在显著且稳健的倒U型关系,过于强化或弱化家族成员在高层管理团队中的权威都不利于家族企业的创新。此外,家族权威的这种作用在不同的组织环境下具有不同的表现,在动荡的经营环境下强调家族权威具有更显著的消极作用;在经营规模相对较大的情况下强调家族权威更不利于创新能力的培育。     

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.     

Embeddedness of Organizational Capabilities*

Managers must regularly make decisions on how to access and deploy their limited resources in order to build organizational capabilities for a sustainable competitive advantage. However, failure to recognize that organizational capabilities involve complex and intricately woven underlying processes may lead to an incomplete understanding of how capabilities affect competitive advantage. As a means of understanding this underlying complexity, we discuss how managerial decisions on resource acquisition and deployment influence capability embeddedness and argue that capability embeddedness has an incremental effect on firm performance beyond the effects from organizational resources and capabilities. To investigate these issues, we present a hierarchical composed error structure framework that relies on cross‐sectional data (and allows for generalizations to panel data). We demonstrate the framework in the context of retailing, where we show that the embeddedness of organizational capabilities influences retailer performance above and beyond the tangible and intangible resources and capabilities that a retailer possesses. Our results illustrate that understanding how resources and capabilities influence performance at different hierarchical levels within a firm can aid managers to make better decisions on how they can embed certain capabilities within the structural and social relationships within the firm. Moreover, understanding whether the underlying objectives of the capabilities that are being built and cultivated have convergent or divergent goals is critical, as it can influence the extent to which the embedded capabilities enhance firm performance.     

An Empirical Investigation in Sustaining High‐Quality Performance

Many organizations that were once quality leaders have had challenges sustaining high‐quality performance. Although research has examined frameworks and concepts that lead to high‐quality performance, few studies examine how to sustain high‐quality performance. Sustaining performance may require additional capabilities from what it takes to achieve it. Drawing on quality management literature, organizational resilience literature, and the theory of dynamic capabilities in the strategy literature, this study empirically investigates the effects of four capabilities that help sustain high‐quality performance. The analysis shows that capabilities in improvement, innovation, sensing weak signals, and responsiveness all help sustain high‐quality performance. This suggests that what it takes to achieve high‐quality performance is different, in part, from what it takes to sustain it. The data comes from a survey of 147 manufacturing business units. The analysis shows that the relative benefits of these capabilities may depend on the level of competitive intensity and environmental uncertainty. The findings provide empirical support for a theoretical model and practical guidance for sustaining quality performance.