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The purpose of this paper is to open up the research and development (R&D) organisation by separating product and process innovation and exploring these activities in terms of the structural variable of centralisation versus decentralisation.

Case studies of three multinational firms, representing food and beverage, mining and minerals, and pulp and paper industry.

Dual structures may exist within the R&D organisation, one for product innovation and one for process innovation. Consequently, it is suggested that the conventional notion of R&D organisational design, equating R&D more or less with product innovation, does not present a complete picture for many firms.

Opening up the R&D organisation will help further the understanding link between the organisational structuring of product and process innovation, and the efforts of organisations to develop resources and competitive advantages.

The findings have implications for managing the strategy‐organizational fit concerning innovation in process industry.

The conventional view regarding R&D as a single entity – either centralised or decentralised – does not present a complete picture. This paper clarifies the link between strategic innovation determinants and the organisational configuration of R&D.

The innovation process demands an interaction between environment agents, knowledge generators and policies of incentive for innovation and not only development by companies. Universities have gradually become the core of the knowledge production system and, therefore, their role regarding innovation has become more important and diversified. This study is aimed at identifying the mechanisms of university–industry (U–I) collaboration, as well as the operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process.

This study is aimed at identifying, based on a systematic literature review, the mechanisms of university–industry (U–I) collaboration, as well as the operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process.

The analysis of the 72 selected articles enabled identifying 15 mechanisms of U–I collaboration, proposing a new classification for such mechanisms and developing a framework presenting the operationalization steps of the interaction process.

In this paper, the authors screened nearly 1,500 papers and analyzed in detail 86 papers addressing U–I collaboration, mechanisms of U–I collaboration and operationalization steps of the U–I collaboration process. This paper provides a new classification for such mechanisms and developing a framework presenting the operationalization steps of the interaction process. This research contributes to both theory and practice by highlighting managerial aspects and stimulating academic research on such timely topic.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop a typology of co‐located supplier clusters, such as logistics centres or supplier parks, and second, to evaluate the theoretical perspectives at hand to investigate the co‐location phenomenon.

The research encompasses 28 semi‐structured interviews with key operations executives from vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers and logistics service providers at nine co‐located supplier clusters, the findings of which are triangulated with secondary sources.

The investigation yields two main findings: first, a typology is proposed based on two key dimensions “spatial integration and infrastructure” and “local value‐added”. From a theoretical perspective, the paper further concludes that transaction cost economics is less suited for studying dedicated co‐location, and suggests that future investigations should focus on consolidating the contributions on the spatial dimension of sourcing configurations into a novel theoretical framework.

The study is based on an exploratory research design, investigating a selected number of co‐located supplier clusters only. While the research does not claim to provide a comprehensive survey of co‐located supplier clusters, it proposes a general categorisation that aims to provide a structure currently lacking further research into this phenomenon.

A structured overview of the phenomenon of co‐located supplier clusters is provided, extending the existing morphological debate. Furthermore, the discussion of their theoretical foundations provides novel insights into this phenomenon as well as into the operational implications of value chain modifications in general, with the intention of guiding further research in this area.

This paper provides a review of theoretical perspectives and empirical research on the role of culture in mergers and acquisitions [M&A], with a particular focus on the performance implications of cultural differences in M&A. Despite theoretical and anecdotal evidence that cultural differences can create major obstacles to achieving integration benefits, empirical research on the performance impact of cultural differences in M&A yielded mixed results: while some studies found national or organizational cultural differences to be negatively related to measures of M&A performance, others observed a positive relationship or found cultural differences to be unrelated to M&A performance. We offer several explanations for the inconsistent findings of previous research on the performance impact of cultural differences in M&A and develop a model that synthesizes our current understanding of the role of culture in M&A. We conclude that the relationship between cultural differences and M&A performance is more complex than previously thought and propose that, rather than asking if cultural differences have a performance impact, future research endeavors should focus on how cultural differences affect M&A performance.

The increasingly demanding psychosocial working conditions in Swedish public sector workplaces call for implementation of workplace health promotion (WHP) interventions. There is a need to increase first-line public sector managers’ capacities for health-promoting leadership. The purpose of this paper is to investigate first-line managers’ experiences of participating in an intervention aimed at strengthening health-promoting leadership. More precisely, the aim is to study what obstacles and prerequisites the intervention have for their learning processes to become health-promoting managers.

A qualitative study in Northern Sweden at workplaces in the county council and municipalities was conducted. The data were gathered through individual interviews with 18 participating first-line managers. Inductive-content analysis was used to analyse the data.

The results identify time for reflection and collegial discussions about leadership as prerequisites for learning about health-promoting leadership. Managers experienced the intervention as a confirmation of the leadership behaviours already gained. However, the health-promoting leadership intervention was seen as a contradiction, since organisational prerequisites to implement WHP measures were perceived to be lacking. The managers were not involved in the planning of the intervention and questioned why the organisation did not involve them more when the educational activities were created.

When the organisation understands how and when its managers learn, what they need and want to learn about WHP, and what they already know, tailored participatory interventions can be facilitated that consider the unique prerequisites for the particular organisation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate contracts of the intermodal transport market and the incentives they create for a modal shift and thus the financial and environmental efficiency of freight transport.

The research used a mixed-methods approach where qualitative case interviews and quantitative modeling was combined. Two cases of contractual relationships between a service provider and its intermodal train operator on a specific lane were investigated. The case findings were then consolidated and used as input for a model of the contractual relation. Findings were sought through an extensive numerical study.

The cases reported that intermodal rail operators had a strong production focus, transferring the capacity risk (i.e. the risk of unused capacity) to the service provider, which the service providers argued limited the shift from truck to intermodal transportation. The paper shows that, due to the market structure, it is rational for the operator to transfer the capacity risk but not the profit. Consequently, a modal shift is only likely to occur when there is strong shipper pressure or low capacity risk. We present a risk-sharing contract that could release this dead lock.

The conclusions are modeling outcomes subject to assumptions based on the cases. For further validation, large-scale quantitative studies are necessary.

The paper shows that a three-part tariff in which the capacity risk is shared may lead to increased modal shift and hence assumed improved environmental performance.

Instead of arguing for operators to be more customer-focussed, policy makers and other stakeholders may have more to gain by having both actors being more cooperation focussed.

The paper is the first attempt to quantify how the contractual relations on the freight transport market affect the modal mix and thus the financial and environmental efficiency of freight transport.

Impingement and forced convection are preferable methods for cooling gas turbine components. However, influences of various design parameters like crossflow and surface enlargements (like ribs) are not well understood. Thus there is a request for reliable and cost‐effective computational prediction methods, due to the experimental difficulties. Such methods could be based on the numerical solution of the Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes equations, the energy equation and models for the turbulence field. This paper describes some recent advances and efforts to develop and validate computational methods for simulation of impingement and forced convection cooling in generic geometries of relevance in gas turbine cooling. Single unconfined round air jets, confined jets with crossflow, and three‐dimensional ribbed ducts are considered. The numerical approach is based on the finite volume method and uses a co‐located computational grid. The considered turbulence models are all the so‐called low Reynolds number models. Our recent investigations show that linear and non‐linear two‐equation turbulence models can be used for impinging jet heat transfer predictions with reasonable success. However, the computational results also suggest that an application of a realizability constraint is necessary to avoid over‐prediction of the stagnation point heat transfer coefficients. For situations with combined forced convection and impingement cooling it was revealed that as the crossflow is squeezed under the jet, the heat transfer coefficient is reduced. In addition, inline V‐shaped 45° ribs pointing upstream performed superior compared to those pointing downstream and transverse ribs.

While the concept of supply chain responsiveness (SCR) has received considerable attention in the operations management literature, mostly under the auspices of concepts such as build‐to‐order, mass customisation, lean and agility, so far there is a lack of comprehensive definition of SCR, as well as a defined relationship between “responsiveness” and “flexibility”. Also, the frameworks at hand tend to consider only a subset of factors previously identified in the literature, and thus do not comprehensively portray the cause‐and‐effect relationships involved. This paper aims to address these gaps.

The paper synthesises the existing contributions to manufacturing and supply chain flexibility and responsiveness, and draws on various related bodies of literature that affect a supply chain's responsiveness such as the discussion of product architecture and modularisation.

Four types of responsiveness are identified: product, volume, mix, and delivery, all of which can relate to different time horizons, and can be present as either potential or demonstrated responsiveness. It is argued that a supply chain can feature different levels of responsiveness at different tiers, depending on the configuration of the individual nodes, as well as the integration thereof. Furthermore, a holistic framework is proposed, distinguishing between requiring and enabling factors for responsiveness, identifying the key relationships within and between these two categories.

The definition and framework proposed provide novel insights into the concept of SCR as well as a clear terminology that will inform future research. The framework developed in this paper is suitable for both qualitative and holistic quantitative studies.

In addition to a detailed review of the factors associated with SCR, a generic definition of responsiveness is developed. The paper proposes a definition of four types of responsiveness which will support further empirical studies into the concept and its application. Furthermore, a holistic framework is developed that allows for cause‐and‐effect relationships to be investigated and dependencies to be identified.

The purpose of this paper is to explore managers’ learning-oriented leadership, and what conditions managers face when working with the promotion of employees’ learning.

Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with managers in three manufacturing firms. Verbatim expressions of the interview participants were analysed using stepwise analytical procedures.

The managers used many kinds of activities to promote learning. Most common were activities related to learning opportunities that arose during daily work. The identified activities ranged from being planned to occurring more spontaneously. Depending on the situation or the learning activity, the managers used different behaviours to promote learning. They supported, educated and confronted employees, and they acted as role models. Factors constraining the implementation of learning-oriented leadership included limited resources, and a lack of commitment from top management, employees or the managers themselves.

Future research should study learning-oriented leadership from the employees’ perspective.

Managers’ notions about learning and development constitute an important condition for learning-oriented leadership. Therefore, managers need to be trained in how to promote their employees’ learning at work.

This study adds to the limited knowledge of how managers carry out a learning-oriented leadership in their daily work. The findings contribute knowledge regarding managerial practices of promoting employees’ workplace learning by identifying different activities and behaviours that managers could incorporate into their leadership.