University–industry relationships and open innovation: Towards a research agenda

Organizations increasingly rely on external sources of innovation via inter‐organizational network relationships. This paper explores the diffusion and characteristics of collaborative relationships between universities and industry, and develops a research agenda informed by an ‘open innovation’ perspective. A framework is proposed, distinguishing university–industry relationships from other mechanisms such as technology transfer or human mobility. On the basis of the existing body of research, the role of practices such as collaborative research, university–industry research centres, contract research and academic consulting is analysed. The evidence suggests that such university–industry relationships are widely practised, whereby differences exist across industries and scientific disciplines. While most existing research focuses on the effects of university–industry links on innovation‐specific variables such as patents or firm innovativeness, the organizational dynamics of these relationships remain under‐researched. A detailed research agenda addresses research needs in two main areas: search and match processes between universities and firms, and the organization and management of collaborative relationships.     

组织即兴:现状与展望

复杂动荡的环境要求组织做出及时的响应,组织即兴能够为组织的快速响应提供新的理论解释,且日益受到学者的重视,并成为组织理论的最新研究领域。在回顾1990～2010年国内外组织即兴相关文献的基础上,全面总结了组织即兴的概念、特性、类型、测量、触发条件、影响因素以及结果。研究发现,现有组织即兴的理论研究过度依赖隐喻,概念模糊、体系薄弱,实证研究匮乏。在此基础上提出了未来研究的方向。旨在为组织即兴的深入研究提供理论借鉴,并为企业管理实践开拓新的管理思路。     

Generations in organizations

Despite a rich tradition of scholarship across many disciplines, organizational research on the topic of generations has been relatively scarce. In this article we develop a framework for studying generations in organizations that draws on multiple conceptualizations across multiple disciplines. Our framework distills two distinct critical elements that give ‘generations’ agency in organizational settings – chronology (the idea that a unique location in time creates a ‘generation’) and genealogy (the idea that generations are linked through the transmission/descent of ideas/values/skills/knowledge). After an historic overview of the evolution of the topic of generations, we review generational research across the fields of political sociology, family sociology, psychology, social anthropology, cultural sociology, demography, and gerontology. Our framework elucidates how linkages between generations, based on chronology and genealogy, can be characterized in organizations and how the nature of intergenerational contact and transfer predicts a wide range of organizational outcomes such as change/innovation, conflict, turnover, and socialization. We outline the implications of this framework for future research on generations in organizations.     

Leadership succession in different types of organizations: What business and political successions may learn from each other

We systematically review the recent impactful leadership succession literature in three types of organizations/contexts, namely publicly-traded, privately-owned (mostly family businesses), and political organizations. We compare and contrast these literatures, and argue that business and political leadership succession researchers and practitioners can learn from each other. The purpose of the review is fourfold. First, to take stock of the existing leadership succession research in these three related literatures – that examine the same essential phenomenon – but that have evolved separately. Previous reviews have focused mostly on CEO succession (not the broader phenomenon of leadership succession) mainly in publicly-traded firms; and to our knowledge no (recent) comprehensive literature reviews on the important topics of privately-owned and political organization leadership succession exist yet. Second, to develop an overarching integrative conceptual framework (ICF) that structures the overall leadership succession literature and shows the potential areas of integration and difference among the three literatures. Third, to develop three organizational frameworks – one for each organization type – that review what we know and what we should know about leadership succession in each type. Fourth, to critically compare the ICF, the three organizational frameworks, and the three literatures to better understand the similarities and differences among these literatures. By doing so and using a multidisciplinary approach we aim to contribute to the field in the following ways. Firstly, we seek to synthesize the field of leadership succession to identify important research questions that are ripe for study in the near future in the business and political science disciplines. Secondly, we strive to uncover what succession researchers and practitioners across these disciplines may learn from each other.     

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.     

基于情感反应的组织即兴成因机理研究

在不断变化的竞争环境中,企业快速成长能力更多地依赖于临场应变的组织即兴。组织即兴往往是由情境变化所激发的组织情感反应,进而激活组织记忆和偏离原组织行动模式、并不断地适应新环境的组织活动,同时。本文剖析了组织情感与组织即兴行动之间关系,建立了组织情感会触发组织活动的即兴生成模型。模型研究发现,情感反应与组织行动之间的趋同性、组织情感反应的强度、以及改变行动的努力程度影响着组织即兴活动产生。最后,以星巴克的创新性活动为例进一步证实,组织即兴是组织情境激发的情感力所驱动的集体行动。     

A Framework for Measuring the Importance of Variables with Applications to Management Research and Decision Models*

In many disciplines, including various management science fields, researchers have shown interest in assigning relative importance weights to a set of explanatory variables in multivariable statistical analysis. This paper provides a synthesis of the relative importance measures scattered in the statistics, psychometrics, and management science literature. These measures are computed by averaging the partial contributions of each variable over all orderings of the explanatory variables. We define an Analysis of Importance (ANIMP) framework that reflects two desirable properties for the relative importance measures discussed in the literature: additive separability and order independence. We also provide a formal justification and generalization of the “averaging over all orderings” procedure based on the Maximum Entropy Principle. We then examine the question of relative importance in management research within the framework of the “contingency theory of organizational design” and provide an example of the use of relative importance measures in an actual management decision situation. Contrasts are drawn between the consequences of use of statistical significance, which is an inappropriate indicator of relative importance and the results of the appropriate ANIMP measures.     

Voluntary Work‐related Technology Use during Non‐work Time: A Narrative Synthesis of Empirical Research and Research Agenda

The Internet and mobilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have made non‐manual work increasingly portable and remotely accessible. As a result, a considerable number of employees use their ICTs to engage in work‐related tasks during designated non‐work time, even without contractual obligation. However, existing research on such voluntary work‐related ICT use remains fragmented and spread across disciplines. The authors conducted a narrative review of 56 studies to identify themes in existing research, synthesize the evidence base and identify gaps in understanding. They identify five themes: (1) Social‐normative organizational context, (2) Job‐related characteristics and work processes, (3) Person characteristics, (4) Designated non‐work time and well‐being, and (5) Empowerment/Enslavement Paradox. A conceptual model of voluntary ICT use is developed by integrating the identified themes with existing organizational research, outlining the relationships between the identified themes and voluntary ICT use. The discussion emphasizes the need for more conceptual clarity on voluntary ICT use and related constructs, and for the integration of different disciplines and methodological approaches to advance knowledge in the field. The authors further identify person‐centred research as a critical future avenue to explore different ICT user types. Additionally, more research into the mechanisms and moderating influences regarding voluntary ICT use and its outcomes is considered advisable to advance knowledge on the Empowerment/Enslavement Paradox and its potential resolution. The paper concludes with preliminary implications to inform practice, addressing the need for employers to provide control over voluntary ICT use and employees enacting this control.     

Safety culture: under-specified and overrated?

Is the measurement of 'safety culture' a valid management tool in the effort to reduce accident rate and improve safety performance, or is it a fuzzy academic concept, lacking empirical validation? The answer to this question seems to depend on whom one asks. The UK Health and Safety Commission has encouraged companies to improve their safety performance through the development of a 'positive safety culture'. However, academic discussions in this area suggest that the concept remains vague, lacks empirical validation and is used as an 'umbrella term' for all the social and organizational factors that affect accident rate. This paper reviews the existing literature on safety culture and provides some clarification in terms of definition, empirical evidence and theoretical development. A theoretical framework of the mechanisms by which safety culture affects safety behaviours in organizations is proposed. The implications for practical management issues are discussed and future challenges and areas for further research are identified.     

Inter-organizational governance: a review,conceptualisation and extension

Abstract

Although the concepts of relational and contractual governance in inter-organizational relationships have attracted academic and practitioner interest over the last decades, to date there have been limited comprehensive and systematic efforts to review, analyse and synthesise extant literature. We review and analyse 1,415 publications identified from a wide range of management disciplines and journals from 1990 to 2018. We deploy bibliographic and content analyses to offer a comprehensive literature analyses and synthesis and subsequently develop and position a multidimensional framework of exchange governance. The proposed framework covers existing conceptualisations of exchange governance and its diverse mechanisms, environmental dimensions influencing the use of exchange governance mechanisms and performance implications. We uncover areas that are currently under-studied and draw out fruitful future research avenues.     

知识管理战略、组织能力与绩效的关系实证研究

本文在文献研究的基础上归纳出描述和测量知识管理战略的六个主要维度:外部导向、内部导向、显性导向、隐性导向、探索导向和利用导向.基于397家中国企业的问卷调查所得数据,本文检验了知识管理战略、组织能力和企业绩效三者的关系,发现知识管理战略能显著地提升组织能力,而组织能力对企业绩效有显著的促进作用,组织能力在知识管理战略与企业绩效的关系中起完全中介作用.     

Narratives as Sources of Stability and Change in Organizations: Approaches and Directions for Future Research

Although narrative analysis has made significant advances in organization and management studies, scholars have not yet unleashed its full potential. This review provides an understanding of key issues in organizational narrative analysis with a focus on the role of narratives in organizational stability and change. We start by elaborating on the characteristics of organizational narratives to provide a conceptual framework for organizational narrative analysis. We elaborate on three key approaches to narrative analysis on stability and change: realist, interpretative, and poststructuralist. We then review several topic areas where narrative analysis has so far offered the most promise: organizational change, identity, strategy, entrepreneurship, and personal change. Finally, we identify important issues that warrant attention in future research, both theoretically and methodologically.     

Safety culture: under-specified and overrated?

Is the measurement of ‘safety culture’ a valid management tool in the effort to reduce accident rate and improve safety performance, or is it a fuzzy academic concept, lacking empirical validation? The answer to this question seems to depend on whom one asks. The UK Health and Safety Commission has encouraged companies to improve their safety performance through the development of a ‘positive safety culture’. However, academic discussions in this area suggest that the concept remains vague, lacks empirical validation and is used as an ‘umbrella term’ for all the social and organizational factors that affect accident rate. This paper reviews the existing literature on safety culture and provides some clarification in terms of definition, empirical evidence and theoretical development. A theoretical framework of the mechanisms by which safety culture affects safety behaviours in organizations is proposed. The implications for practical management issues are discussed and future challenges and areas for further research are identified.     

Work–Life Balance and Parenthood: A Comparative Review of Definitions,Equity and Enrichment*

This review investigates the problems of definition and inequity with which the literature on parenthood and work–life balance is beset. It analyses research trajectories first within the established disciplines of organizational psychology and the sociologies of work and family practices, and then within the newer field of management studies. Gender, class and difference are singled out as troubling themes, especially in relation to fathers and impoverished parents. A tendency towards mono‐disciplinarity is observed within organizational psychology and sociologies of work and family practices. The review offers explanations for the historic but narrow definition within organizational psychology and sociologies of work and family practices of work–life balance as affecting mainly heterosexual dual‐career parent couples. The authors show how this narrow definition has led to inequities within research. They further identify as limiting the definition of work–life balance to be always ‘problematic’, rather than enriching, among employed parents. Consequently, a three‐factor framework is recommended, through which future studies may address the problems of definition and equity in work–life balance literature, including: a broader definition of work–life balance to include marginalized parents; the defining of parenting and employment as potentially life‐enriching; and a commendation of the transdisciplinary approach within management studies as poised to move debate forward.     

The evolution and problems of model management research

Models are a key resource for organizational decision making. The diversity, complexity, and reusability of this resource result in the need for model management systems. The construction of a model management system involves a modeling task dimension and a design level dimension. The modeling task dimension consists of model formulation, model representation, and model processing. The design level dimension addresses the architectural requirements of a system from a user's standpoint and a computer system's standpoint.The numerous architectures suggested in the model management systems literature address isolated areas identified by these dimensions. The research surveyed in this paper indicates that the primary focus has been on the system view of model representation. Before model management systems can be widely used in organizations, model management researchers must explore systems that address all areas of the task and design level dimensions.In this paper, we identify and justify the necessary dimensions of model management research. Next, the existing model management research is critically reviewed. Finally, neglected research areas are discussed, and investigations necessary for the development of integrated model management systems are suggested.     

The Ethics of Researching Friends: On Convenience Sampling in Qualitative Management and Organization Studies

Scholarship on the ethical complexities resulting from friendships which develop with respondents during qualitative data collection is well established. There has also been consideration of the ethics of researching existing friends across various disciplines. But, although management and organization scholars use convenience samples of the latter kind in qualitative research, there is virtually no discussion in our field of the ethical implications. In seeking to rectify this, I draw on my experiences of a project where I gathered data from six friends on their experiences of and attitudes towards sexual relationships, motherhood and life–work ‘balance’. I discuss the reportage of what sometimes felt like confidences, the use of ex ante data, the objectification of participants and difficulties relating to respondent validation in order to highlight some of the ethical challenges in qualitative management and organizational research with friends.     

The Role of Existing Knowledge in New Product Innovativeness and Performance

The purpose of this study is to provide a more thorough assessment of the link between existing knowledge and organizational performance than currently exists in the literature. We identify factors and processes influential in the management of existing knowledge within the areas of learning culture, knowledge building, and organizational performance. Through structural equation modeling, a more thorough examination is given of the role existing knowledge plays in new product performance and innovativeness. In completing this task, we provide insight into the subprocesses of knowledge building by evaluating the influence of shared interpretation and two aspects of information acquisition—efficiency and degree of innovativeness of newly acquired information—on new product development (NPD) outcomes. Included in the examination of these processes are organizational culture and structure characteristics believed to influence knowledge management success.     

Organizational Improvisation: What, When, How and Why

In this article, the authors review the growing body of literature on organizational improvisation in order to present an encompassing and systematic perspective on this concept. An integrative definition of its construct is presented together with a new way of measuring this phenomenon in organizational settings. The article further explores this construct by presenting its triggers, necessary conditions, influencing factors and major outcomes. The issues of improvisation's growing legitimization in the organizational arena for practitioners and researchers alike are addressed in order to argue for the need for and interest in a fuller development research on this concept.     

INTEGRATED OPERATIONS: A PROPOSAL FOR OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT TEACHING AND RESEARCH

This paper, addressed to professors of operations management (om) in research institutions, suggests that the long-term academic viability of our discipline requires the generation of a theory uniquely associated with the practice of OM. Such a theory will rest on foundations laid by other disciplines, but must find its own unique synthesis that attends to the problems of OM practice. The paper proposes a framework that recognizes physics, social psychology and philosophy as foundational disciplines for an integrative theoryof OM and suggests which concepts from those disciplines may find voice in such a theory.