The Role of Project and Organizational Context in Managing High‐tech R&D Projects

High‐tech organizations often struggle to manage different types of R&D projects. Evidence from research and practice suggests that managers frequently categorize and manage projects based on the extent of change triggered in product, process, technology, and market dimensions. However, this can create challenges in high‐tech organizations. This study investigates how high‐tech organizations manage R&D projects based on their learning goals. First, we argue for the benefits of categorizing R&D projects based on the degree of exploration and exploitation learning goals. A qualitative case study from four high‐tech business units involving 10 R&D projects helps understand the different types of projects based on their learning goals. The case study shows that R&D projects in high‐tech organizations typically fall into three categories based on their learning goals: Radical innovation projects, Incremental innovation projects, and Hybrid projects. Second, we iterate between literature and evidence from our qualitative data to theorize how project context and organizational context affect project performance depending on the type of project. The data for the empirical analysis come from a multilevel survey of 110 R&D projects across 34 high‐tech business units. Results show the importance of designing project and organizational context differently for the three types of R&D projects. Collectively, this study offers a new perspective on how to manage high‐tech R&D projects.     

Strategic Maneuvers for Outsourcing Flexibility: An Empirical Assessment

Tan and Sia (2006) conceptualize outsourcing flexibility within a set of four dimensions: robustness, modifiability, new capability, and ease of exit, and propose a portfolio of preemptive, protective, exploitive, and corrective maneuvers to manage flexibility in outsourcing. In this article, we build upon their proposed framework by anchoring the strategic maneuvers through a multitheoretic lens and empirically validate the research propositions. A survey of 171 outsourcing projects in Singapore was conducted. The findings bear evidence that the four proposed dimensions of outsourcing flexibility are conceptually distinct and that different strategic maneuvers contribute differently to the various flexibility dimensions. The empirical findings also affirm the importance of structuring flexibility for outsourcing success, with some flexibility dimensions manifesting different intensity in enabling outsourcing success for IT outsourcing versus business process outsourcing. We conclude by proposing a more holistic approach for effective flexibility management in outsourcing and highlighting research gaps that may need deeper theorizing and empirical extension.     

Der Personalverantwortliche als strategischer Partner

Since Ulrich (Human resource champions: the next agenda for adding value and delivering results, Boston, Harvard Business School Press, 1997) shaped the strategic role of HR managers, his concept of an HR business partner has been controversially discussed by researchers and practitioners. Explanations about when and how HR managers act as strategic business partners have found limited attention in the literature. Based on the theory of reasoned action developed by Ajzen und Fishbein (Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall, 1980; J Pers Soc Psychol 27(1):41?C57, 1973), we hypothesize a positive relation between personal attitudes as well as subjective norm and the behaviour of HR managers to act as a strategic business partner. Results of the German Cranet survey in 2009 show that expected positive consequences influence the personal attitude, whereas the acceptance of the human resources as well as the existence of an HR strategy within the organisation is positively related with subjective norm. Hence, both attitude and subjective norm positively influence the behaviour of HR managers to act as a strategic business partner.     

Was müssen Führungskräfte können?

Ethics Education complements business administration only if it teaches strategic competencies that help managers to become better leaders. To this end, this article sketches an ordonomic approach to an economic ethics for competitive markets, to a business ethics for firms (corporate citizens), and to a process ethics for new governance. The core idea of this ordonomic approach is the win-win concept of mutually beneficial value creation. Thus, ordonomics is compatible with the market economy and at the same time supplements the management education in business schools: This approach systematically identifies strategic competencies that enable managers to display the kind of entrepreneurial leadership that is necessary for firms to fulfill their social function of value creation—by making use of moral commitments as a factor of production.     

Modelling collaborative product development using axiomatic design principles: application to software industry

Even though collaborative product development (CPD) is considered as a strategic business plan to maintain competitive advantage, the literature lacks a systematic and detailed model of CPD from a strategic point of view. This article aims to develop a CPD model based on an axiomatic design technique by offering a system perspective in the context of software development (SD). Software industry is characterised by a dynamic and innovative nature and it gives a suitable application area in order to detail the proposed model in industry. Three main dimensions of CPD derived from the literature are defined in strategic level: partnership process, collaboration process and PD/SD. These three dimensions are detailed into hierarchy through business feedback and by experts from software industry. The model is evaluated and verified through two interviews. A case study is then conducted to observe the performance of the model. The conceptual model offers a guideline for CPD practitioners to increase effectiveness in collaborative efforts in the development process. The proposed model incorporates the main success factors of CPD in general, collaborative SD in specific, and it can be used as a performance evaluator in collaborative projects.     

How Software Project Risk Affects Project Performance: An Investigation of the Dimensions of Risk and an Exploratory Model*

To reduce the high failure rate of software projects, managers need better tools to assess and manage software project risk. In order to create such tools, however, information systems researchers must first develop a better understanding of the dimensions of software project risk and how they can affect project performance. Progress in this area has been hindered by: (1) a lack of validated instruments for measuring software project risk that tap into the dimensions of risk that are seen as important by software project managers, and (2) a lack of theory to explain the linkages between various dimensions of software project risk and project performance. In this study, six dimensions of software project risk were identified and reliable and valid measures were developed for each. Guided by sociotechnical systems theory, an exploratory model was developed and tested. The results show that social subsystem risk influences technical subsystem risk, which, in turn, influences the level of project management risk, and ultimately, project performance. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.     

董事会对公司战略过程评价:逻辑架构与指标体系

公司的战略管理是所有管理活动的重中之重.它包括战略判断、计划与预算活动、战略执行以及适威Adaptive)与交互(Interactive)性的战略控制体系.而现代公司治理原则要求董事会应关注和评价公司的战略管理活动.本文进一步认为,在资本市场不够发达的情况下,董事会应关注公司战略管理的奎过程为此,我们提出了一个针对公司战略管理体系有效性评价的基本框架和评价指标体系,目的在于使公司治理有效地作月于管理过程,最终为企业创造价值.     

Strategic management in a firm of consulting engineers

This article describes the introduction of strategic management in a large and diversified company of consulting engineers in Brazil. This was done by a massive strategic planning effort in which the 60 top people of the company actively participated. This approach was chosen to produce both a comprehensive corporate strategy and strategic management capability throughout the company. The project therefore gave as much attention to training and guidance as to planning itself. Psychological, organizational and ‘political’ factors were taken seriously into account. Project management was a good joint-venture between some top people inside and some external consultants, strongly interacting with each other. The project resulted not only in plans, but also in decisions, including tidying-up the divisional structure of the firm. The article evaluates the project to determine success factors in such undertakings. It is interesting for managers to appreciate the factors involved in efforts to produce plans, develop managers and reorient a company at the same time. It is also interesting because it shows a fruitful, although demanding role for management consultants in strategic reorientations: more committed, more ‘on-line’ than experts submitting recommendations; less amorphous and more performance-oriented than organizational development gurus.     

建设项目的费用控制以及项目费用管理系统的需求

对于许多项目而言,费用严重超支、交付成果低劣的现象更凸显了需要对项目管理流程进行有效的管理和控制。本文叙述了项目从概念设计阶段到完工整个生命周期的有效费用控制,并介绍了进行这种控制所需要的项目费用管理系统在大型建设项目上的应用。     

Crafting business models for conflicting goals: Lessons from creative service firms

The business model construct has become attractive to both managers and academics. It reflects how the most important organization's strategic and tactical choices regarding the allocation of resources interact in order to create and capture value. Yet with the growing entrepreneurial complexity, managers often end up pursuing conflicting and even paradoxical strategic goals, thus rendering the business modelling processes more complex, too. Well-known examples are profit versus social value, stakeholder versus company interests, exploration versus exploitation and environmental sustainability versus economic returns. The academic business model literature so far has provided limited insights on how to implement business models beyond a single goal and focused mainly on the initial strategic choice of a business model, ignoring that such salient tensions are often persistent and resurface within the business practice. In this study we leverage paradox theory to investigate how managers of creative firms make tactical choices to accommodate (not solve) salient tensions within their business models, focusing on the domains like services provided, choice of clients, networking and resourcing practices, revenue models and new venture creation. Based on qualitative case study research, we found four integrating and three differentiating decision-making tactics that managers deploy to create both economic and creative value through their business models. Adding to the business model theory, we show how business models are crafted in managerial practices by making tactical decisions to solve conflicts and paradoxes. The results equally enrich the paradox literature by providing for tactical-level approaches toward working through the paradox.     

Subsidiary-level determinants of global initiatives in multinational corporations

This article examines subsidiary-level factors that promote global initiatives in MNCs. Global initiatives are a key capability of MNCs that domestic firms do not possess, yet there has been little research on how MNCs promote initiatives on a global basis. I draw principally on the knowledge-based view to develop a model in which three subsidiary-level variables explain the propensity of the MNC to pursue global initiatives. These variables are: (1) inter-unit networking, (2) subsidiary learning from internal and external sources, (3) shared strategic goals. A survey of 118 subsidiary managers, triangulated with interviews with 20 key informants, provides support for the hypothesized effect of subsidiary learning and shared strategic goals on global initiatives. The result for inter-unit networking is less clear. These variables combine to activate initiatives within the MNC and thus act as a source of competitiveness on a worldwide basis. The results have important implications for MNC managers as well as for theory, and these are discussed.     

Strategic control of factory automation

This article identifies strategic control as an unexpected difficulty in implementing the ‘factory of the future’ and as a major stumbling block to firms in their automation efforts. The concept of strategic control is discussed and an example is given. The results of a study in this area are then described and used to explain how managers have unknowingly relinquished control of the manufacturing operation. The article concludes with advice for managers in setting up strategic control systems in their firms that will facilitate rather than hinder the progress of factory automation.     

策略延迟下众筹项目的定价和激励决策

本文研究了投资者的策略延迟行为对众筹项目的定价以及激励决策的影响。策略延迟是指投资者在投资过程中自动按照估值在相应阶段投资,并且部分投资者会刻意延迟投资来搭便车的行为。本文采用了一个两阶段模型来刻画投资者的投资行为,并进一步对比序列到来模式（投资者没有策略延迟）与同时到来模式（投资者有策略延迟）中的贝叶斯均衡。研究结果表明,当发起人采用价格激励的方式提高成功率时,投资者的策略延迟行为可能会影响最优的激励策略。当存在固定目标约束时,如果投资者没有策略延迟行为,发起人应该激励前期投资者,通过弥补他们等待成本的方式提高成功率;反之如果投资者出现策略延迟行为,对项目估值较高的投资者会自动在前期投资并且愿意承受更高的价格,此时发起人应该反过来激励后期投资者。当不存在目标约束时,不论投资者是否有策略延迟行为,发起人都应该始终激励前期投资者以获得更高的成功率以及期望收益。     

Paying for growth: The impacts of rapid growth

Fiscal Impact Analyses (FIA's) are the quantification of the expected public-sector fiscal effects (revenues and expenditures) generated by a project. FIA's are exerting greater influence on recent engineering projects and developments than previously experienced. The federal government as well as many state and local governments are requiring FIA's before making decisions on engineering projects. FIA 's in today's engineering environment need to be flexible and capable of assessing the impact resulting from changes in the project's scope or timing without extensive revisions or time delays. A microcomputer-based FIA model is an effective way of meeting these needs. Engineer managers should be aware of the capabilities of a microcomputer-based FIA model and how it can assist them during the project approval process, when negotiating impact payments and payments in lieu of taxes, and in setting development fees.     

Strategic planning for public relations

Public relations is a key activity for most chairmen of public companies and nationalized industries. It is somewhat suprising therefore how few large companies consider developing an explicit public relations strategy as part of their overall business plan. The reason for this may be partly due to the relatively low regard which senior line managers have for public relations managers and partly because there is a lack of understanding of the nature and use of public relations as a tool of strategic management. The purpose of this article is to discuss why and how business planners should pay more attention to developing explicit public relations strategies for their organizations.     

Framing strategy under high complexity: Processes and practices of ongoing reframing in the becoming of strategy

Framing is a key concept in research on how strategists legitimize and win support for strategic change by establishing a frame of reference for that change. This article advances research on strategy framing by showing how, under conditions of high complexity and uncertainty, strategists continuously reframe strategy in relation to shifting constellations of stakeholders. It presents the findings of an ethnographic study of strategizing in the highly complex context of the digital transformation journey of a global manufacturing firm. It shows how (re)framing practices are combined to iteratively shape strategy formation in ways that sustain strategic influence in the face of constant threats to legitimacy. By accounting for how (re)framing practices reach back and forth in time, the ethnographic findings refine the conventional understanding of how framing resources of past strategizing enter and reworked in present strategy work. Finally, the article contributes empirical insights into how information systems specialists, often marginalized as strategic actors, frame and pitch strategic projects to gain and exert influence in strategy formation processes.     

PFI项目特点对项目风险事件和脆弱性的影响

不同特点的项目需要不同的管理手段与之相匹配,这样才能有效的提高项目成功率.PFI是一种公私合营的项目运营方式.它的基本目标在于充分利用私有部门的资源来为公共部门项目提供优良的服务.在目前的文献中,还缺少对于PFI项目特点与项目成功(失败)之间关系的研究.对于PFI项目的特点在项目风险过程中所起的作用不是很清楚.通过分析5个英国PFI项目,本文识别出PFI项目的一些特点:新奇性、长期性、高复杂性、紧联结性、高度战略性、多目标性和严格的法律法规限制.本文提出PFI项目的这些特点在一定程度上与项目组织活动和管理活动相互作用,一方面提高了项目风险事件发生的概率,另一方面能够增加项目脆弱性.这些机制说明拥有这些特点的PFI项目需求很高的项目管理能力.     

Breaking down the “Green Wall” (part one): Early efforts at integrating business and environment at SC Johnson

Integrating environmental management initiatives with business functions, such as manufacturing and purchasing, is now a major goal in many firms. Most environmental professionals agree that success in this pursuit is a product of their greater involvement with traditional business management areas as well as their ability to avoid the “green wall”—the separation between environmental and business functions that companies often experience.In this article, the first of a two-part series, Mark Haveman and Mark Dorfman examine how some firms deliberately break down these barriers. The case study of SC Johnson specifically illustrates how elements such as gaining senior management commitment, explicitly aligning environmental issues with key business goals, and designing consistency into the overriding management system can all lead to breaking down that integration. In the next issue, authors from SC Johnson and the Alliance for Environmental Innovation will discuss a recent project to further the efforts of business-environment integration.     

It's Only Temporary: Time Frame and the Dynamics of Creative Project Teams

The success of many knowledge‐intensive industries depends on creative projects that lie at the heart of their logic of production. The temporality of such projects, however, is an issue that is insufficiently understood. To address this, we study the perceived time frame of teams that work on creative projects and its effects on project dynamics. An experiment with 267 managers assigned to creative project teams with varying time frames demonstrates that, compared to creative project teams with a relatively longer time frame, project teams with a shorter time frame focus more on the immediate present, are less immersed in their task and utilize a more heuristic mode of information processing. Furthermore, we find that time frame moderates the negative effect of team conflict on team cohesion. These results are consistent with our theory that the temporary nature of creative projects shapes different time frames among project participants, and that it is this time frame that is an important predictor of task and team processes.