Innovation in Family Firms: A Systematic Literature Review and Guidance for Future Research

Through a systematic review of 118 peer‐reviewed journal articles published between 1961 and 2017, this article provides an integrative picture of the state of the art of the family firm innovation literature. Our aim is to widen existing understanding of innovation in family firms by building a theoretical bridge with studies in the mainstream innovation literature. Specifically, in identifying the main gaps in the literature and providing future research directions, our critical and dynamic picture of family‐specific determinants of innovation is intended to advance the debate on innovation in general, and family firms in particular.     

双元创新研究述评及开展中国情境化研究的建议

基于1991~2020年发表在Web of Science(WOS)核心数据库的双元创新学术论文,对双元创新研究进行了可视化计量分析和系统性内容梳理:①从文献产出趋势、合作网络、发表平台和关键节点文献等方面呈现双元创新研究概况;②总结双元创新的基本思想与逻辑,提炼分析双元创新的4种基本关系,构建基于“影响机制-作用过程-作用效果”的双元创新整合研究框架;③在对比中英文代表性文献的基础上,提出应基于跨学科、多层次与多因素交互、多研究方法、智能化和数字化驱动等视角开展中国情境下双元创新研究的建议。     

国外参与式管理研究述评

本文对参与式管理的相关研究文献进行回顾,首先分别从过程观和实践形式等角度界定参与式管理的概念,明确其操作性定义;基于四维结构模型分类,基于五维结构模型开发研究工具。其次,分别从个人和组织角度分析参与式管理的主要影响因素及可能的影响效应;最后,从管理效能、跨文化比较、作用机制、研究方法等角度对参与式管理的未来研究方向提出建议。     

Collaborative Innovation with Customers: A Review of the Literature and Suggestions for Future Research*

Collaborative innovation with customers or users is increasingly important for the development of new products and services. In this paper we provide a review of the literature, placing emphasis on how firms engage in collaborative innovation with individual and business customers. Our review develops a synthesized conceptual framework from three existing models, and other streams of research, to organize this diverse body of literature. We review studies from several disciplines including innovation, strategy, management, marketing and information technology. Although much of the literature assumes net positive benefits from such collaboration, we also discuss contrary perspectives. We highlight areas in which research is needed for greater understanding of the strategic issues and for managing the collaborative process, and provide suggestions for future studies.     

中国战略管理学研究的发展述评

中国战略管理学的研究在过去十年发展很快,这与国家自然基金会管理学部的成立分不开的.虽然中国的战略管理学研究在研究问题的侧重点与国际战略管理学研究重点存在明显的不同,比如公司治理结构是中国战略管理研究的重点,而创业和战略联盟则是国际学者研究的热点.但是,对比过去五年的文献我们发现,在研究方法和理论基础上两者的差距比五年前明显缩小.从本"专刊"发表的论文看.研究方法的多样性是一大特点.而从研究问题来看.战略联盟和全球化背景下中国企业的战略管理将是近期战略管理研究的关注的热点.     

Sustainability‐oriented Innovation: A Systematic Review

This paper is intended as a contribution to the ongoing conceptual development of sustainability‐oriented innovation (SOI) and provides initial guidance on becoming and being sustainable. The authors organize and integrate the diverse body of empirical literature relating to SOI and, in doing so, develop a synthesized conceptual framework onto which SOI practices and processes can be mapped. Sustainability‐oriented innovation involves making intentional changes to an organization's philosophy and values, as well as to its products, processes or practices to serve the specific purpose of creating and realizing social and environmental value in addition to economic returns. A critical reading of previous literature relating to environmental management and sustainability reveals how little attention has been paid to SOI, and what exists is only partial. In a review of 100 scholarly articles and 27 grey sources drawn from the period of the three Earth Summits (1992, 2002 and 2012), the authors address four specific deficiencies that have given rise to these limitations: the meaning of SOI; how it has been conceptualized; its treatment as a dichotomous phenomenon; and a general failure to reflect more contemporary practices. The authors adopt a framework synthesis approach involving first constructing an initial architecture of the landscape grounded in previous studies, which is subsequently iteratively tested, shaped, refined and reinforced into a model of SOI with data drawn from included studies: so advancing theoretical development in the field of SOI.     

Accelerating the Innovation Process: A Systematic Review and Realist Synthesis of the Research Literature

There is continued interest among academics, practitioners and policy‐makers in methods to achieve accelerated innovation. Academic studies of this complex phenomenon have succeeded in reaching a high degree of consensus on the antecedents of innovation speed. The aim in this review is to elucidate further the mechanisms underlying management interventions to promote speed. The review adopts a theory‐led, realist synthesis of innovation speed research – the first example of this methodology in management studies. The authors develop a new time‐based framework for categorizing the innovation‐speed literature. The framework has a CIMO logic, and is built by invoking the organizational studies literature on time. The authors contextualize the innovation‐speed literature in relation to the three generic temporal challenges faced by all organizations: reducing temporal uncertainty; resolving temporal conflicts over activities; and allocating resources amid conditions of temporal scarcity. They problematize extant explanations of innovation speed as not taking account of different temporal orientations (temporal dichotomies) within innovation work, and thereby neglecting a potential barrier to achieving accelerated innovation outcomes. They further draw on the literature on time in organizations to suggest new avenues of research, and methodological approaches new to the study of innovation speed. The principal contribution of this review is to offer a new conceptual perspective on the complex empirical research examining how innovation projects may be accelerated from original idea to launch.     

The Dynamic Capability View in Strategic Management: A Bibliometric Review

The dynamic capability view (DCV) is one of the most vibrant approaches to strategic management. In this study, the extant literature published between 1994 and 2011 is analysed, using bibliometric methods in order to explore the scope of this approach and detect current research priorities. For this purpose, the method of bibliographic coupling is introduced in management research, which shifts the focus of analysis from past traditions to current trends. Several clusters of thematically related research are extracted from bibliographic networks, which represent interconnected yet distinct subfields of inquiry within the DCV. The core cluster of the current DCV, which visualizes this research field's nascent but fragile identity, focuses on learning and change capabilities and relates them to firm performance, thus merging aspects of organization theory and strategic management. In addition, several peripheral clusters of research are identified, which reflect a parallel process of differentiation in the overall field. Both trends, i.e. of integration and differentiation, attest to the emancipation of the DCV as a distinct approach to strategic management. However, the DCV still lacks consensual concepts that allow comparisons of empirical studies and advance the theoretical understanding of dynamic capabilities. In the light of the above, some implications of this analysis for further research are discussed.     

Asian Family Firms through Corporate Governance and Institutions: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Agenda for Future Research

Although the corporate governance model of Asian family firms has recently gained increased attention, it remains unclear how these firms’ corporate governance mechanisms (and their effectiveness) differ from those of family firms in the western world. Drawing upon a comparative institutional perspective, this paper systematically reviews 148 published articles in peer‐reviewed journals from 1980 to 2015. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of institutional complementarities that constitute informal governance mechanisms adopted by Asian family firms by considering a wider set of institutional factors (i.e. political environment, cultural values and social norms) embedded in the Asian context. The main findings suggest that: (i) given the lack of market‐supporting institutions and the presence of strong political control over Asian economies, family firms tend to cultivate political connections to respond to the failure of legal systems; (ii) Asian family firms still rely heavily on personal networks (e.g. guanxi) to reduce uncertainty, strengthen business ties, and gain access to external resources; and (iii) cultural values and social norms (e.g. ‘face’ saving, reputational concerns and adult child adoption) lead to functionally equivalent corporate governance mechanisms in Asian family firms. The downstream effects of such mechanisms are also discussed, and future research avenues are identified.     

The Informal Sector: A Review and Agenda for Management Research

Despite its connotations of non‐compliance, illegality, social exploitation and marginality, the informal sector is a substantial contributor to economic life in developing countries and, increasingly, in more technologically advanced activities. Its prevalence in developed economies has also become more widely recognized. In light of its significance, this paper reviews research on the informal sector from a management and organization scholarship perspective, rather than from an entrepreneurship view, as has been the focus until now. It sets out the atypical management practices that are inherent in the sector, explores the under‐researched relationship between formal and informal firms, and highlights definitional, conceptual and other limitations in extant research. As a step in resolving these issues, the authors present a conceptual model of formality and informality in a three‐dimensional framework that highlights an organizational infrastructure dimension, a view of firms operating along a continuum, and a multi‐level analytical context. Building on this, the authors detail opportunities for enhanced appreciation of in situ management and organizational practices in the informal sector and outline tools for pursuing a management and organization scholarship agenda. Overall, the authors argue that management scholarship has great potential to improve understanding of the informal sector, and that the informal sector provides opportunities to advance management theory, research and practice.     

战略管理研究现状与未来我国研究重要领域

在搜集整理和分析研究大量战略管理研究文献的基础上,本文按照战略管理的发展历程对战略管理相关理论进行了分析与评述.本文首先对战略管理理论演化过程中的四个学派的观点进行了分析与评述,然后分析了战略管理理论的发展趋势,并总结了当前研究的两个热点问题.     

Time and Organizational Learning: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

This paper examines the time dimensions of organizational learning. While several recent studies have addressed aspects of time in relation to organizational learning, the topic of time has received little attention in reviews of the field, and this promising domain of research is fragmented. The objective of this paper is to bring these dispersed conceptualizations and findings together and to provide a more solid conceptual foundation for the time dimensions of organizational learning as a new research avenue. Three sets of mechanisms are discerned: concerning time as duration; the timing of organizational learning; and the role of the past, present and future in organizational learning. Each of these perspectives offers unique insights, which when integrated can help map new directions for future research.     

The Strategic Management of IT Investment Decisions: A Research Note

The concept that Information Technology can be used as part of an organization's strategy changes its role in the organization. Whilst investments associated with current or ‘more of the same’ computer systems are proposed by the DP manager, requests for investments associated with the use of IT as a competitive weapon come from a much wider audience. Since the size of the investment may be large and its potential impact on the organization profound there is a need to objectively analyze and manage such investments at the strategic level. Sophisticated models exist in the literature (Butler, 1988; Porter, 1988; Marsden, 1988; Synott, 1987) and there is much research to support the view that IT and corporate strategic models need to be aligned (Feeney & Brownlee, 1986; Haffenden, 1988 and Brewer, 1987). However the results from in-depth interviews with highly placed managers suggest that the decisions are based on more informal processes and that there exists differing views on the relationship between IT and corporate strategies.     

A Review of Political Skill: Current Research Trend and Directions for Future Research

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical research on the use of political skill in organizations and proposes some agendas for future research. Although political skill is a relatively new construct in organizational politics research, a large number of theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted. Five major themes were identified in previous research. These are: (a) definition and measurement of political skill; (b) political skill and stress management; (c) political skill and career success; (d) political skill and individual performance; and (e) political skill and leadership effectiveness. This review critically examines previous empirical studies in light of this theoretical background and points out that, although previous empirical studies support the theoretically assumed effects of political skills, they fail to confirm how and why these skills bring about these effects. Based on this examination, the author suggests the examination of mediators and dimensional differences derived from theory that can lead to more effective exploration of the impact of political skill. In addition, several issues for future research are proposed, which may provide useful insights for both literature and practice.     

The Role of Emotions in Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions: A Systematic Review of the Inter-Disciplinary Literature and Future Research Agenda

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are highly emotional events for the employees of involved organizations. The strength and directionality of emotional reactions can result in positive or negative employee outcomes contributing to success or failure of cross-border M&As. Existing studies on emotions and cross-border M&As have identified various underlying mechanisms and factors that influence employee emotions in cross-border M&A activities, leading to a fragmentation of current research on this topic. In this article, we systematically review the interdisciplinary literature on the role played by emotions in cross-border M&As by analyzing a sample of 78 articles published between 2000 and 2021. We contribute to the current literature by (1) providing a holistic and deeper understanding of the role played by emotions in cross-border M&As; (2) mapping the current state of the interdisciplinary literature on emotions and cross-border M&As; and (3) developing a multi-level framework, and identifying key theories and emerging themes to be examined in future studies.     

Introduction to Innovation WITHIN and ACROSS Borders: A Review and Future Directions

Innovation is an integral part of every firm's ongoing operations. While new product and service creation is an essential task to ensure a firm's immediate success in the marketplace, process and supply chain innovations can also create a unique source of competitive advantage for the future. Encouraging innovative thinking, developing new innovations, and managing the processes by which those innovations are developed are critical aspects of today's firm. Consequently, research which aids in the creation and maintenance of innovative firms is an important topic of inquiry for research communities on innovation management, including the operations management and information systems communities. We review the literature in this important area and offer suggestions for future research on the following topics: innovation within a firm and across the supply chain, technology management, and new product and service development.     

The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Critical Review and Future Research*

The important phenomenon that the internationalization of Chinese firms (ICF) represents has attracted increasing interest from scholars from multiple fields over the past 20 years (1991–2010). Although this proliferation of research has the potential to significantly improve understanding of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs), the necessary step of consolidating and integrating extant knowledge is absent. This paper reviews the scholarship on the ICF and offers insights into the specific areas in critical need of further development. By focusing on articles published in major scholarly journals during the period 1991–2010, the authors develop a coherent framework to organize and review conceptual and empirical findings from disciplines as far ranging as management, international business, cross‐culture and area studies. Within the reviewed literature, three primary streams of enquiry are identified which focus on the antecedents, processes and outcomes of the ICF. Achievements within each of the three research streams are carefully reviewed using content analysis, whereby a number of important issues are identified which have remained consistently untouched, and recommendations are provided for future research, aimed at developing a more integrated research agenda on the ICF for management and international business scholars.     

Informal Mentoring at Work: A Review and Suggestions for Future Research

This paper reviews the literature on informal mentoring at work. Based on two basic premises of interpersonal relationships, it discusses four promising areas in current mentoring research that could be cultivated further by future research. The first premise that we hold is that relationships never exist in a vacuum. Traditionally, however, mentoring literature has often overlooked the context of mentoring. We propose that the developmental network approach can be further extended to gather more insight into the interplay between mentoring dyads and their context. Also, mentoring literature could pay more attention to temporal influences in mentoring studies. The second premise that is applied is that relationships are not only instrumental in nature. However, mentoring research to date has mostly applied a one‐sided and transactional view to mentoring. Relational mentoring theory could be helpful in examining relational motivations of both members. Also, mentoring literature can achieve more explanatory power by examining the underlying mechanisms of mentoring, next to social exchange principles, that cause these developmental changes. In summary, in each of these four research areas, we identify and discuss fundamental questions and developments in research that can advance mentoring theory and practice.