Adaptive and Generative Learning: Implications from Complexity Theories

One of the most important classical typologies within the organizational learning literature is the distinction between adaptive and generative learning. However, the processes of these types of learning, particularly the latter, have not been widely analyzed and incorporated into the organizational learning process. This paper puts forward a new understanding of adaptive and generative learning within organizations, grounded in some ideas from complexity theories: mainly self‐organization and implicate order. Adaptive learning involves any improvement or development of the explicate order through a process of self‐organization. Self‐organization is a self‐referential process characterized by logical deductive reasoning, concentration, discussion and improvement. Generative learning involves any approach to the implicate order through a process of self‐transcendence. Self‐transcendence is a holo‐organizational process characterized by intuition, attention, dialogue and inquiry. The main implications of the two types of learning for organizational learning are discussed.     

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.     

Internationalization, innovation and entrepreneurship: business models for new technology-based firms

New technology-based firms, particularly those that develop their business around a new technological platform, are likely to be impacted by globalization, in terms of both pace of innovation and pressure of competition. For these firms, strategic decisions and growth processes are characterized by a deep inter-relationship amongst the processes of internationalization, innovation and entrepreneurship; processes which have tended to be examined independently in distinct bodies of literature. In practice strategic decisions concern each of these processes and address issues such as organizational boundaries, location of the operational activities, what activities to focus on and selection of value partners. The business model by which firms operate needs also to accommodate the spatial dimensions indicated by globalization; and the emergence of global technology markets. Little is known to date about the extent to which business models accommodate or are adapted to internationalization, innovation and entrepreneurship. This paper presents a review of the business model literature from which a generic business model framework is derived, identifying and introducing the main elements of these processes as the firms?? focus, modus and locus. This contribution makes a clear distinction between the business model and the strategy concepts and highlights the relevance of location decisions??not considered by extant business model literature to date. While our discussion draws on the high technology new venture as our primary example, we believe our business model conceptualization has general applicability.     

国家创新体系协同学习的一个分析框架

运用归纳的研究方法对国家创新体系协同学习的概念、绩效维度进行分析,基于制度安排和外部资源寻求的分类特征对国家创新体系中的学习类型进行探讨;运用信任理论,从信任产生的原因出发,结合静态分析和动态分析,对国家创新体系中的信任进行分析;借鉴组织社会资本理论,运用演绎的研究方法对社会资本嵌入的国家创新体系的学习效率提升进行理论推导;运用复杂自适应理论和信号传递理论分析国家创新体系学习的复杂适应性特征和核心支撑,为国家创新体系的学习机制的形成提供重要理论基础支持;基于重要对象分析选择,结合国家创新体系组织学习的研究成果,总结推导国家创新体系的学习过程,并对学习策略进行探讨.     

复杂情境下中国企业管理创新类型选择研究

旨在解析我国企业在多因素综合作用的复杂情境下就突变型与渐进型管理创新选择的问题。基于扎根理论、使用多案例比较研究方法,首先采用开放式译码、轴向译码、以及选择性译码析出了大连三洋冷链有限公司管理创新案例中蕴含的关键概念、范畴和故事脉络,并对初始案例研究草案和研究样本进行了发展和补充;其次,在对其他9个案例分别进行概念、范畴和故事脉络分析的基础上,对10个案例进行了比较研究,得出了我国企业在组织规模、行业环境、企业家精神和组织文化的不同组合维度下对突变型和渐进型管理创新的选择模式及其中的机理。     

Planning for technological innovation—Developing the necessary nerve

Adaptation is a condition of survival, affecting companies as much as other organisms. Survival in industry depends on innovation, in products, processes and management. The principles of adaptive or dynamic planning were outlined in an article published in the December 1980 issue, where the conditions or characteristics favouring innovation were described as generative, receptive and selective. A methodology serving to optimize these conditions is described in this article, with some case material.     

基于文化种群归类的中国企业出口对FDI带动效应研究

结合心理距离与文化距离的相关理论,运用格兰杰因果关系分析方法,对中国企业国际化过程中出口对生产性FDI的带动效应以及这种带动效应的文化差异性进行了初步探索。研究结果表明：在全球市场上,中国企业出口对FDI产生显著的带动效应;在不同文化种群市场上,这种带动效应与其文化距离正相关。最后,描述了目前中国企业国际化过程的特征,并提出了相关的管理含义。     

Adaptive culture and product/service innovation outcomes

Organizational culture has been used and defined extensively as a relatively stable, enduring set of values, beliefs, assumptions, and symbols shared in the organization. Based on this conception, researchers have studied the relationship between different types of cultures and innovation outcomes. In contrast to this static perspective, the dynamic systems perspective views culture as not necessarily determined by internalized and shared values. Rather, as cultures are constantly receiving environmental pressures that require continuous adaptation, they have an inherent attribute of change, which has been called adaptive culture. We focus on adaptive culture as an antecedent of product/service innovation outcomes, since innovations require a progressive upgrading of shared values, assumptions, and beliefs. Based on the thinking and acting schema, we propose two determinants of adaptive culture that help us to understand how culture can evolve to facilitate product/service innovation outcomes. We propose that structural flexibility and reflexive learning positively affect product/service innovation outcomes by creating an adaptive culture. A 190-company sample is used to analyze the theoretical model variables’ relationship to a culture that can change its values to improve product/service innovation outcomes. The results support the theoretical model, and lead to some implications for the management of culture.     

Leadership and business model innovation in late internationalizing SMEs

Drawing on the distinction between small-scale and large-scale business model innovation, and between directive and empowering leadership, we examine how CEOs in SMEs lead business model innovation during the process of internationalization. Building on eight cases of Japanese manufacturing SMEs, we develop a theoretical framework pointing to two different patterns in the articulation between CEO leadership style and business model innovation. We show that small-scale business model innovation led by directive leadership results in a timelier foreign market entry. However, in order to increase international sales, large-scale business model innovation is required. This is facilitated by an empowering leadership style of the CEO.     

Perception of learning culture and concerns about the innovation on its use: a question of level of analysis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between organizational members' perception of learning culture and the concerns about the innovation, and the influence of these factors on the use of one innovation (ISO 9000) in the Malaysian public sector. This study was guided by the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Hall and Hord 1987) and the dimensions of the learning organization (Watkins and Marsick 1993, 1996b). The study involved 628 people from eleven government agencies that had been using the new system for at least a year. The study provided a model for operationalizing the assertions and theories of both organizational development and learning organization scholars especially that a more adaptive learning-oriented culture would facilitate the implementation of change. The examination of learning culture facilitated the understanding of how members within the organization perceived their learning culture, and subsequently its relationship to their use of the innovation. The analysis of concerns illustrated the fit between the innovation and feelings and perceptions of the individual members about the innovation. On an individual organizational basis, the regression analyses showed that the model was able to explain the variance in use of innovation in each organization. However, a comparison of regression weights across the organizations told a very different story. The results showed that the combination of variables that explained the use of innovation varied radically from organization to organization. The findings raised questions about appropriate levels of analyses for such studies. The study suggests that theories that try to explain organizational innovation implementation be tested across organizations and take into account organizational context. Otherwise, they could lead to inaccurate conclusions.     

Internationalization of R&D and Innovation Performance in the Pharma Industry

This research investigates the effect of R&D internationalization and contingency variables on innovation performance. A number of prior studies addressing this question have concluded in diverse and inconsistent findings, which can be attributed only partly to sample selection and measurement discrepancies. Using a longitudinal dataset of global pharmaceutical firms, we partly solve this ambiguity in the R&D internationalization and innovation performance relationship. The results reveal an S-shaped relationship, suggesting the benefits of R&D internationalization ultimately overcome the costs after critical levels of R&D internationalization. This finding combines and unites prior findings of a U-shaped, followed by an inverse U-shaped curve. In addition, we find that the experience in conducting R&D internationally, but not the degree of general internationalization, moderates the relationship between degree of R&D internationalization and performance. This suggests that the effect is contingent on the knowledge of internationalization path of the firm but can flourish in the absence of overall internationalization as well. Implications for theory and practice are derived.     

中国汽车产业环境技术创新影响因素实证研究

基于动态计量模型,以我国汽车产业为对象,从产品创新和过程创新2个方面实证研究了环境政策、技术进步、市场结构、产业特征对汽车产业环境技术创新的影响。结果表明,环境政策中的环境影响评估制度和污染限期治理制度、技术进步中的R&D投入和人力资本存量、市场结构中的产品销售利润率与环境技术创新存在长期均衡关系,且长期均衡对产品创新短期波动的影响不大,仅有污染限期治理和R&D投入的长期均衡对过程创新短期波动的影响显著。此外,环境影响评估制度、R&D投入、人力资本存量、产品销售利润率均为产品创新和过程创新的格兰杰原因,而污染限期治理是产品创新的格兰杰原因,过程创新是污染限期治理的格兰杰原因。     

The Microfoundations of Dynamic Capabilities for Incremental and Radical Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Businesses

We theorize and test the impact of two microfoundations of dynamic capabilities on incremental and radical innovation in knowledge-intensive businesses (KIBs). We argue that numerical flexibility and training, as human resources (HR) microfoundations that enable the configuration and deployment of resources, have different implications for incremental and radical innovation. Furthermore, we contend that those KIBs that make significant use of numerical flexibility will invest less in training, thus impacting innovation outcomes. We test our arguments using an original, longitudinal dyadic dataset assembled from 1750 structured interviews conducted with HR directors and senior managers in 875 KIBs located in Finland, France, Sweden and the UK. We find that numerical flexibility is negatively related to both incremental and radical innovation, whereas training is positively related to both. Our test of the moderating impact of training on both types of innovation resulting from the use of numerical flexibility was not statistically significant. Overall, we suggest that not all efforts by KIBs to mobilize resources and capabilities and align them with a complex external environment in the pursuit of innovation are necessarily beneficial. We highlight some research, policy, and practice implications that arise from our findings.     

Evolution of strategic management: The need for new dominant designs

The development of strategic management is explained from an evolutionary perspective on the basis of cycles of variation, selection and retention. In industry, breakthrough innovations, or technological discontinuities, initiate eras of ferment that end when a generally accepted standard, or dominant design, starts an era of incremental change. In strategic management, the original definition of strategy initiated an era of ferment characterized by a focus on the environment. The attention to the environment of firms and the integration with other areas of inquiry reached a point of maturity with development of a widely accepted model for analyzing industry and with the definition of generic strategies. The resource-based view of the firm created a new era of ferment by affirming that the main sources of sustainable competitive advantages reside in the development and use of valuable resources. A new period, marked by swift advances in technology and increasingly blurred boundaries among industries, markets and competitors as well as diverse and more complex sources of competitive advantages, imposes on scholars and practitioners an imperative need to conceive new dominant designs. This paper illustrates the evolution toward new directions and challenges of creating new dominant paradigms in strategic management that revolve around the concepts of knowledge, learning, and innovation.     

Knowledge Management and Balanced Scorecard Outcomes: Exploring the Importance of Interpretation,Learning and Internationality

The topics of shared interpretation, organizational learning and firm internationalization have been studied extensively. Though considered important factors that shape the international competitive landscape, research synthesizing these interrelated areas has been limited to date. We use the balanced scorecard as a framework for assessing how organizational learning and sensemaking influence actions relating to a global marketing strategy and subsequent financial performance. Using data from 169 multinational corporations, findings indicate that a specific set of knowledge activities is related to balanced scorecard outcomes (e.g. customer performance, innovation and learning performance, and internal process performance). The hypothesized importance of customer performance is confirmed as the only balanced scorecard outcome significantly related to financial performance. A post hoc analysis revealed further insights for future research opportunities. Overall, these results suggest that firms can improve their competitive position by emphasizing shared interpretation within the organization and including balanced scorecard elements when assessing performance.     

Internationalization of small and medium sized enterprises in the Baltic Sea Region

We integrate internationalization process theory with industrial network theory to explain SME entry in emerging markets. We show that entry modes are complemented by entry nodes and entry processes. We develop a Five/Five Stages Model to consider the dynamic interaction between these factors. We undertook a survey of 116 SMEs in Southern Sweden trading with the Baltic States, Poland and Russia, as complemented by a case study of ten SMEs trading with Poland and an analysis of trade statistics of SMEs in Southern Sweden.We find that relationships are critical for entry as most firms rely on direct relationships with customers or dyads. The involvement of subsidiaries is uncommon, suggesting a low degree of FDI. Meanwhile, triads or indirect relationships through distributors or agents are more important. This low cost entry node creates a paradox in that the insufficient learning it provides about local markets obstructs further internationalization. By relating entries to the global internationalization process, we find that most SMEs trade with few countries in the region, indicating a low degree of regional internationalization.     

Internationalization and performance: The moderating effects of organizational learning

By proposing a conceptual outline for a general model that explains the internationalization–performance link, we test the moderating effects of organizational learning on the relationship between internationalization and performance empirically. Integrating two distinct literature streams from the organizational learning perspective and the resource-based view, we present an integrated, multidimensional framework for analyzing multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) resources, internationalization, and organizational learning, as well as their associated impact on firm performance. Specifically, using a sample of 110 American MNEs, we find that while certain MNE resources motivate and precede internationalization, social and market learning (whereas technological learning does not) moderates the relationship between internationalization and performance. These findings extend prior research by establishing the importance of the relationships among MNE resources, internationalization, organizational learning, and firm performance.     

Using management development for competitive advantage

Management development is a major strategic tool and should be integrated with business strategy to enhance organizational ability to compete in a complex and changing environment. The increasing internationalization of business and changing international organization structures make the development of the international manager a central task for management development. Putting management development at the heart of business strategy also enables the organization to build its collective international competence and to create the international learning organization essential for future global competition.     

突破性技术创新的影响因素研究——基于战略与组织的视角

企业的可持续发展离不开其突破性技术创新能力的提升,然而目前对突破性技术创新的研究仍然是以定性研究为多而定量研究为少,关于突破性技术创新的成因的研究则相对更少。本文从战略和组织的双重视角出发,在对现有文献进行回顾和归纳的基础上,提出了本文的研究假设,并运用中国的企业样本,采取多源数据取样的研究设计以降低同源误差的影响,运用层级回归方程对所提出的假设进行了实证验证,研究结果发现,有机式组织结构对突破性技术创新具有显著的正向影响,探索者战略也有利于突破性技术创新能力的提升,而有机式组织结构与探索者战略的交互对突破性技术创新也具有显著的正向影响。最后讨论了本文的研究启示以及未来研究方向。     

An empirical multi-level analysis for achieving balance between incremental and radical innovations

An examination of 202 innovation projects in 42 firms revealed two approaches in how firms manage employees to explore new knowledge for radical innovations and to exploit existing knowledge for incremental innovations. The first is the system of organization-level management practices, whereby employees are recruited based primarily on prior work experience in other companies and developed interdepartmentally, and compensation is based primarily on joint performance without a specific innovation project in mind. The second is the system of team-level management practices, whereby employees are selected based mainly on overlapping knowledge with team members, and are trained and rewarded for a specific innovation project. Although both systems offer employees the necessary psychological safety for attaining radical innovations and the perspective-taking capability helpful for incremental innovations, each system is better for achieving one type of innovation than the other. The system of organization-level management practices better achieves radical innovations because it provides greater psychological safety, while the system of team-level management practices better achieves incremental innovations because it develops superior perspective-taking capability. Using both systems assists in incremental innovations but not radical innovations, because contradictory expectations are placed on the employees, diminishing psychological safety. The main implication of these findings is that companies should manage their employees differently depending on the type of innovation they wish to achieve.