More (new) products,more problems? A systems perspective on increased capability deployment and organizational errors

The capabilities-based view postulates that organizational capabilities are a key driver of competitive advantage. However, while increasing the pace of deploying organizational capabilities, such as new product development (NPD), may enable alignment with changing environments, it may also have unintended consequences. In this study, we advance theory on these unintended consequences by investigating how the increased deployment of NPD capability leads to organizational errors. Borrowing from organizational research employing systems theory, we argue that an increase in NPD deployment may increase the likelihood of routine discoordination and, thus, the incidence of intra-firm and interfirm errors. However, we also proffer that firms can mitigate errors from increases in NPD capability deployment by engaging in distinct internal and external activities that enable the accumulation of knowledge on how to coordinate systemic change. We distinguish between internal and external errors, demonstrating that in the context of increased NPD deployments, internal voluntary investigations ameliorate internal manufacturing errors, while supplier alliances mitigate outsourced component errors. We find support for our predictions using data from new product introductions and recalls in the U.S. automotive industry. This study sheds light on the tension inherent to accelerating the deployment of patterned organizational activities and suggests that the outcomes of deploying an organizational capability are best viewed holistically within the milieu of organizational systems the capability spans.     

The ecosystem blueprint: How firms shape the design of an ecosystem according to the surrounding conditions

Ecosystems are formed by organisations that jointly create a value proposition that a single firm could not create in isolation. To deliver this value proposition, the partners need a focal firm, the orchestrator, to be align them towards the joint value proposition. Thus, how orchestrators design the alignment structure of an ecosystem is at the very heart of the ecosystem concept – yet it has not been sufficiently addressed by extant research. This is all the more true for the question of how the design of an ecosystem is shaped depending on surrounding conditions. This paper applies a qualitative study with ten cases and, based on the attention-based view of the firm, contributes to research on ecosystems in several ways. First, it explains which ecosystem designs are beneficial under which conditions. Second, it elucidates the structure and activities within ecosystems and shows that start-ups can be just as good ecosystem orchestrators as incumbents. Third, it explains the circumstances under which single vs. multi orchestrator ecosystems occur. Fourth, it presents the conditions when incumbents or start-ups make better orchestrators. Finally, it is among the first studies to apply the attention-based view to business ecosystems, and shows that doing so yields intriguing insights into this emerging field of research.     

不同权力结构下碳税对供应链减排水平的影响

随着我国生态文明建设的不断推进,促进供应链协同减排成为生产和消费领域落实绿色发展理念的重要举措。在绿色供应链的管理实践中,不同类型的供应链核心企业在进行减排决策时会有不同的侧重点,因此供应链权力的结构成为影响供应链减排水平的关键因素。本文在一个由两个制造商和一个零售商组成的两级供应链中研究了不同权力结构下的供应链最优减排和定价决策问题,分别给出了零售商主导和制造商主导的Stackelberg-Nash博弈均衡解,并分析了产品的单位生产成本、单位批发价格、碳税税率等参数对供应链最优决策的影响。本文的研究结果表明：（1）在两种供应链权力结构下,当产品的单位批发价格固定时,降低产品的生产成本都可以促使制造商提高减排水平;但是当产品的单位生产成本固定时,提高产品的批发价格却不一定总是能够激励制造商提高减排水平;（2）在两种供应链权力结构下,对于低排放行业的制造商来说,提高碳税税率可以增加产品的减排水平,但是对于高排放行业的制造商来说,提高碳税税率反而会降低产品的减排水平;（3）一般来说,零售商占主导地位的供应链中产品减排水平和供应链总利润相对较高,供应链碳排放总量相对较低。最后,与供应链集中决策模式相比,随着产品批发价格的增加,两种分散决策模式下的供应链双重边际效应逐渐增强。数值实验结果显示：在碳税税率的一定取值范围内,这种双重边际效应会使得两种分散决策模式下的产品最优减排水平和供应链碳排放总量均优于集中决策模式。本文的研究可为碳税政策下供应链的协同减排提供有益的管理启示。     

动结式的事件结构和句法生成

在语言使用过程中,动结式逐渐被语法化成表示致使—结果的特定语法形式,被语法化了的不是具体的词汇单位,而是一种语法结构或构式,即任何两个没有语义关联的动词只要并列出现在一个句子里就会形成致使—结果的语义关系。动结式里的两个动词各自表示一个事件,每个事件都能表述为一个独立的句子,通过移位和融合等句法操作合并在一起,临时构成独立的动词单位,从而在句法上把分别表示不同事件的两个句子合并为一个,实现表达的简约性。因为题元指派首先在底层结构完成,而动结式是表层句法操作的结果,所以动结式的语义关系仍需回到合并前的两个句子里确认。这种追根溯源的底层结构解释,清晰地揭示了动结式表层所呈现的复杂的句法和语义关系,是一种对于动结式的句法派生和形成机制提出的全新看法。     

中国服务业高质量发展评价与实现路

服务业高质量发展日益成为经济高质量发展的重要题中之义。在充分梳理服务业高质量发展 文献的基础上,将服务业高质量发展解构为结构高质量、效益高质量、规模高质量、品牌高质量4 个部分, 进而构建了服务业高质量发展的评价指标体系。根据该指标体系对中国服务业高质量发展进行总体、分 类、分区测算,发现中国服务业高质量发展呈现总体上升、品牌迟滞、区域失调的态势。研究发现:中国服 务业可以通过结构优化、品牌再造、融合发展、协调共进四个路径来实现更优的高质量发展。本文的研究 是建构服务业高质量发展指标评价的有益尝试,对服务业高质量发展具有一定的政策启示。     

珠江三角洲文化形态论纲

珠江三角洲文化形态的性质是务实求利;其特征是商业俗文化;其结构由岭南文化、中原文化、港澳文化和西方文化四因素构成;其地位是有中国特色的社会主义新文化的“曙光”,是中华民族大一统文化的“中介”。     

Dynamic reliability models with conditional proportional hazards

A dynamic approach to the stochastic modelling of reliability systems is further explored. This modelling approach is particularly appropriate for load-sharing, software reliability, and multivariate failure-time models, where component failure characteristics are affected by their degree of use, amount of load, or extent of stresses experienced. This approach incorporates the intuitive notion that when a set of components in a coherent system fail at a certain time, there is a jump from one structure function to another which governs the residual lifetimes of the remaining functioning components, and since the component lifetimes are intrinsically affected by the structure function which they constitute, then at such a failure time there should also be a jump in the stochastic structure of the lifetimes of the remaining components. For such dynamically-modelled systems, the stochastic characteristics of their jump times are studied. These properties of the jump times allow us to obtain the properties of the lifetime of the system. In particular, for a Markov dynamic model, specific expressions for the exact distribution functions of the jump times are obtained for a general coherent system, a parallel system, and a series-parallel system. We derive a new family of distribution functions which describes the distributions of the jump times for a dynamically-modelled system.     

基于知识的组织结构模型

本文在分析企业组织结构发展历程的基础上,深入研究了知识与组织之间的内在联系,提出了一种基于知识并面向任务的三维立体组织结构,以智能化的模型分析方法为现代制造企业经营业务过程分析与企业重组提供先进的组织管理模式,对提高企业组织系统的核心竞争能力将发挥积极的促进作用。     

The impact and management of cognitive gap in high performance product development organizations

The close alignment of applied research and development units with manufacturing operational structures can provide excellent opportunities for maintaining robust product pipelines and reducing product development cycle times. Within such an integrated organizational model (IOM), however, lies a potentially disruptive psychological mechanism that can lead to the dissolution of this delicate partnership if it is not handled properly. This mechanism is cognitive gap, which can take several basic forms: first, as differences between the nature and difficulty of the problem at hand and the cognitive resources of the problem solvers tasked with its solution; and second, as differences between the cognitive abilities and approaches of the problem solvers themselves. In this paper, we define and discuss cognitive gap within the context of Kirton's Adaption-Innovation theory, a useful framework for understanding problem solving (and problem solvers) in general. Specific implications (both favourable and potentially destructive) of cognitive gaps for high performance product development organizations are discussed, and suggestions for their effective management are offered.