The asymmetric effects of exploitation and exploration on radical and incremental innovation performance: An uneven affair

Scholars have argued that the exploitation–exploration interaction provides a source of competitive advantage beyond that provided by each individually. However, we know little about the mutual effects of exploitation and exploration on either incremental or radical innovation performance. To address this gap, we examine data from 171 manufacturing firms. We find incremental innovation performance is highest when exploitation interacts with an intermediary level of exploration. Radical innovation performance, however, is solely driven by exploration. A coupling with exploitation is not effective. We contribute to the extant literature, first, by disentangling the interaction effects of exploitation and exploration on radical and incremental innovation performance, respectively. Second, we extend extant literature that agrees that maintaining an appropriate balance of exploitation and exploration is critical for innovation performance and that has conceptualized this balance as symmetrical presence and magnitude of exploitation and exploration. In particular, we provide evidence in support of an asymmetric relationship.     

Managing the critical transition from volume to value

Experts say value-based health care delivery truly is the wave of the future. Learn what you need to do to get ready to embrace the change.     

Strategic leadership for exploration and exploitation: The moderating role of environmental dynamism

This study advances prior theoretical research by linking transformational and transactional behaviors of strategic leaders to two critical outputs of organizational learning: exploratory and exploitative innovation. Findings indicate that transformational leadership behaviors contribute significantly to adopting generative thinking and pursuing exploratory innovation. Transactional leadership behaviors, on the other hand, facilitate improving and extending existing knowledge and are associated with exploitative innovation. In addition, we argue that environmental dynamism needs to be taken into account to fully understand the effectiveness of strategic leaders. Our study provides new insights that misfits rather than fits between leadership behaviors and innovative outcomes matter in dynamic environments. Hence, we contribute to the debate on the role of strategic leaders in managing exploration and exploitation, not only by examining how specific leadership behaviors impact innovative outcomes, but also by revealing how the impact of leadership is contingent upon dynamic environmental conditions.     

新创企业内部资源与外部关系的战略平衡——中国情境下的经验研究

由于受新创劣势的约束,新创企业的战略行为需平衡内部资源和外部关系.基于创业成长的演化视角,本文将创业导向和创新能力定义为内部资源,外部关系构念区分为支持型和合作型关系,分析其中的战略平衡机制.通过224家上市创业企业的经验研究显示:内部资源与外部关系中的政府支持和金融机构支持形成战略替代效应,演进模型的检验也证实新创企业对这种非市场关系资源形成路径依赖的特征;而在合作型关系中,内部资源与企业联盟之间形成互补效应的平衡机制,但是在演进模型中并没有显著的变化趋势.研究结论为我国创业企业的战略决策提供一定的实践启示,也为战略创业观点提供理论参考.     

新创企业内部资源与外部关系的战略平衡

由于受新创劣势的约束,新创企业的战略行为需平衡内部资源和外部关系． 基于创业成长的演化视角,本文将创业导向和创新能力定义为内部资源,外部关系构念区分为支持型和合作型关系,分析其中的战略平衡机制． 通过224 家上市创业企业的经验研究显示: 内部资源与外部关系中的政府支持和金融机构支持形成战略替代效应,演进模型的检验也证实新创企业对这种非市场关系资源形成路径依赖的特征; 而在合作型关系中,内部资源与企业联盟之间形成互补效应的平衡机制,但是在演进模型中并没有显著的变化趋势． 研究结论为我国创业企业的战略决策提供一定的实践启示,也为战略创业观点提供理论参考．     

The effect of alliance experience and intellectual capital on the value creation of international strategic alliances

This paper investigates the effects of intellectual capital (IC), alliance experience and their interaction on the value creation of international strategic alliances (ISAs). Based on a sample of ISAs formed by US firms, we find that firms with a higher level of IC receive greater announcement-period wealth gains. In addition, the empirical results suggest experience positively enhances the wealth effect of ISAs. Finally, we find a significant positive interaction effect between experience and IC on the wealth creation of ISAs. The results demonstrate the importance of considering the joint effects of IC and experience in assessing the value creation of ISAs.     

The impact of venture capital on investee companies: evidence from Spain

This paper examines the impact of venture capital investors on the financial structure of investee companies and the factors relevant to their capital structure, differentiated according to the investor’s public or private nature. This paper contributes to our understanding of the beneficial effects of such investors in response to the funding needs of SMEs and the decisions taken in this respect. The empirical analysis shows that, on average, these investee companies have a lower level of short-term debt than the average Spanish company. It is suggested that the debt structure is related to the growth opportunities presented, the business sector, the geographic location and the duration of the venture capital participation. These results, which are more significant in the case of companies receiving funds from public investors, highlight the effectiveness of the economic function of venture capital.     

The age of exploration and exploitation: Younger-looking leaders endorsed for change and older-looking leaders endorsed for stability

The current contribution extends theorizing on leadership and the exploration–exploitation dilemma using an evolutionary perspective. A theoretical connection is made between the exploration–exploitation dilemma and age-biased leadership preferences for exploratory change versus stable exploitation. For the majority of human evolution our species was semi- or entirely nomadic and the trade-off between exploration versus exploitation had substantial physical- and experience-based requirements which align with leadership opportunities as moderated by age. Thus, given the consistency and importance of correctly assigning leadership for the exploration–exploitation dilemma, human evolution has likely selected for age-biased leadership endorsement. Across three experiments we find that younger-looking leaders are endorsed for times of exploratory change and older-looking leaders for stable exploitation. Further, our results indicated that older leaders are endorsed for leading conservative exploitation of nonrenewable resources and younger leaders for exploration of renewable alternatives (i.e., green leadership). The results introduce an age-biased leadership endorsement hypothesis.     

Difficulties in the transition from clinician to manager

Medical clinicians have for many years been managers. However, this management role has most often been in groups of other clinicians and other health personnel. Only recently have increasing numbers of medical clinicians been asked to accept responsibilities for managing hospital and health services divisions that carry financial and administrative responsibility in addition to traditional clinical responsibility. In these circumstances, it is appropriate to seek to gather information about the various issues that surround the transition from clinician to manager in a systematic way and to begin to explore the issue and any actions that might be taken to ameliorate transitional problems. Such a study was undertaken by the School of Health Services Management at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and is reported in this article.     

Assessing the relationship between practice changes and process improvement in new product development

This paper reports the findings of a study into the process of new product development. Specifically, it challenges the limitations of the current research into the relationship between the adoption of new tools and techniques and performance improvements in new product development. The study was carried out on a sample of manufacturing firms. Cluster analysis yields a new classification of firms, which is shown to provide a significant explanation of the relationship between levels of tool and technique usage and managers’ perceptions of improvements in outcomes. The existing evaluation of tools and techniques is shown to be deficient in not considering adoption jointly rather than singly. The study shows the benefits of a high level of overall tool and technique usage for improving key competitive objectives in new product development, but with limitations. Significantly, project costs are not improved by a high use of tools and techniques. Improved assessment of tools and techniques should be employed to reduce the gap between the rhetoric and the reality of process improvement.     

Interactions in new product development: How the nature of the NPD process influences interaction between teams and management

Effective interaction across organisational boundaries is a critical success factor in new product development (NPD). However, few studies have investigated how different mechanisms enable effective interaction across organisational and particularly hierarchical boundaries.This study explores how the formality of the NPD process influences the nature of interactions across different organisational boundaries and specifically identifies interaction mechanisms used across hierarchical boundaries. Cross-sectional interviews were conducted in nine firms. Findings highlight that in firms with a formalised NPD process, interactions tend to have a transactional/managerial bias. In contrast, in firms where the NPD process is flexible, interactions have a more social objective.     

The function of management development in the process of organisational change

Management development should produce changes in managerial behavior which are consonant with and contributive to the organization's goals and strategies. This paper outlines appropriate training strategy and identifies likely sources of resistance.     

Leveraging tacit knowledge in alliances: The importance of using relational capabilities to build and leverage relational capital

Effectively managing existing tacit knowledge stocks and transferring knowledge between partners contributes to firm capabilities that allow them to differentiate their goods and services from those of their competitors. Because it also helps them to provide greater value to customers, it contributes to the development of a competitive advantage. In highly competitive industries, firms need to focus on proactively managing their knowledge resources to ensure survival. However, the knowledge management process is at times complex especially because of the difficulty involved in conveying tacit knowledge. Due to its latent potential for enabling firms to achieve potential competitive advantage, how firms utilize and transfer stocks of tacit knowledge requires enhanced understanding. In specific, we explain how firms use relational capabilities to build relational capital with partners. In turn, relational capital facilitates the transfer of tacit knowledge between collaborating partners. We develop several propositions regarding the factors likely to influence the transfer of a firm's tacit knowledge resources in strategic alliances. The importance of social capital's relational dimension, relational capital, in this process is highlighted.     

基于流程视角的创业研究框架构建

创业研究是国内外学术界关注的焦点之一,对当前我国国有企业改革和民营经济发展具有重要的意义.但对创业研究的框架一直存在争议.通过分析美国百森大学(Babson College)<创业研究中心创业研究前沿>(frontiers of entrepreneurship research,FER)中1995年-2002年的1 042篇学术会议论文和中国期刊网上1995-2004年的400篇有关创业研究的学术文章,回顾国内外创业研究的状况.提出创业研究应建立在企业寿命周期的基础上,基于流程视角展开,建立创业研究的一个新的分析框架.通过创业流程的维度分析已有的创业研究成果,便于建立创业研究的系统框架,发现当前研究的不足之处,指出未来可能的研究领域.     

The effect of new product development acceleration approaches on development speed: A case study

This study investigates the impact of nine new product development (NPD) acceleration approaches on development speed. Our findings from 233 manufacturing firms show that 5 approaches (supplier involvement, lead user involvement, speeding up activities and tasks, training and rewarding of employees, and simplification of organizational structure) increase development speed, whereas 2 approaches (implementing support systems and techniques and stimulating inter-functional coordination) decrease development speed. Two approaches (i.e., reduction of parts and components and emphasizing the customer) have no effect on development speed. Our results further show that firms developing different types of new products should use different NPD acceleration approaches, as the speed impact of six out of nine approaches is dependent upon the degree of product innovativeness.     

How to get new products to market quicker : The systematic development of new products, markets and production methods so that the concern can operate successfully

Innovation encompasses a number of activities within a concern that lead to successful introduction of new products, gaining new markets and/or the introduction of new production methods. The basis for these activities is the combined creative capacity of management and employees. By forming an Innovation Group from suitable concern functionaries, new products, markets and production methods can be effectively developed that will not only suit the available external opportunities but also conform to internal strengths, so that the potential of the concern can be optimally used.     

The depth metaphor and international human resource development: from theory to practice

This paper analyses the depth metaphor as a boundary object which has become integral to the transfer of neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in global capitalism which focus on soft skills development and behavioural change. The paper uses a meta-ethnographic methodology to compare and synthesize three existing anthropological international case studies in Poland, India and South Africa with the accounts of UK-based HRD practitioners. The paper applies the theory of Nietzsche to reveal the practical difficulties of implementing neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in different international workplace contexts. It is argued that the choices made by the organizations/senior managers regarding the use of neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in global capitalism and the existing Foucauldian theory has not recognized these problems of implementation. The paper explores and discusses the implications of this for international HRD theory and practice.     

CEO human capital,top management teams,and the acquisition of venture capital in new technology ventures: An empirical analysis

We combine signalling and human capital theory to analyze how competencies of new venture CEOs impact the amount of money technology ventures acquire in venture capital (VC) financing rounds. Using data on 117 financing events in the biotechnology industry, we show that education in management, founder-based firm-specific experience, international experience, and industry-specific experience of the CEO impact the VCs’ financial commitments. Moreover, we find that the effects of management education and industry experience are moderated by the size of the venture's top management team. We discuss the implications of these findings for the research literature on technology ventures and venture capital.