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1 – 10 of 701
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 June 2022

Martin Henning and Ramsin Yakob

The purpose of this study is to investigate how an increasingly intertwined international geography of ownership affects renewal activities and processes, including innovation, in…

1057

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how an increasingly intertwined international geography of ownership affects renewal activities and processes, including innovation, in established local companies that have shifted into foreign ownership. The authors develop a framework for the relations between (foreign) ownership and local renewal activities and processes (including innovation). The authors focus on access to resources for renewal, the development of capabilities for innovation and change, and local mandates to pursue renewal. Based on case studies of eight formerly Swedish-owned mid-size manufacturing companies that have shifted into and remained under foreign ownership during most of the 2010s, the authors develop a framework concerned with the relations between (foreign) ownership and renewal activities and processes in local firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Multiple intensive case studies of eight previously Swedish-owned mid-sized manufacturing companies to gain qualitative insights into the resource, capabilities and mandates for renewal under new ownership conditions. Empirical data collected primarily through semi-structured interviews and complemented with secondary material, including annual reports (2010–2018), databases, press releases and information on company websites. Empirical data were analyzed thematically to isolate key findings pertaining to renewal. At the core of the analysis process was the gradual creation of a framework that stipulates the relations between (foreign) ownership and firm renewal activities and processes.

Findings

The companies are endowed with liberal but conditional mandates to pursue strategic innovation in their original sites and draw on a stronger resource repertoire within their ownership spheres. In comparison to the established international business (IB) literature, the authors add considerations about how local aspects interact with international ones to form global distribution of renewal activities in our time. To economic geographers and innovation scholars, consideration of the local and its importance in renewal activities and processes is certainly not new, but we show how ownership is an important aspect that conditions some of the strategic interactions that companies have with their “outsides”.

Originality/value

Contributes to the burgeoning conversation between IB and economic geography disciplines. Emphasizes a deeper local aspect to the IB literature, partly how companies access resources and capabilities from the ownership sphere at points that suit their renewal efforts and partly the persistence of path-dependent aspects of local companies even as they get acquired by multinationals. Emphasizes ownership and mandate aspects to the literature in Economic geography, which tends to focus on regional/non-regional assets for renewal and innovation. Findings show that the non-regional assets are, in fact, two distinct categories as ownership becomes internationalized: assets within and outside the ownership sphere.

Details

Multinational Business Review, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1525-383X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 August 2020

Christian Falaster and Manuel Portugal Ferreira

Using an institution-based view, this study aims to conceptualize how sub-national institutional characteristics are likely to explain location choice of multinationals’ research…

2555

Abstract

Purpose

Using an institution-based view, this study aims to conceptualize how sub-national institutional characteristics are likely to explain location choice of multinationals’ research and development (R&D) subsidiaries.

Design/methodology/approach

In a conceptual paper, this study explores specific institutional facets of the regional environments within a country that are capable of explaining, at least in part, the location choices of multinational corporations’ R&D subsidiaries.

Findings

This study thus explores the more nuanced influences of the institutional environments at a subnational level and develops propositions to explain location choices based on the differences of the institutional environments.

Originality/value

This study contributes to international business theory by incorporating a location-specific analysis that contrasts to the usual country-level observation on the determinants of firms’ location decisions.

Details

Innovation & Management Review, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2515-8961

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 March 2023

Robson Almeida Borges De Freitas and Antonio Martins de Oliveira Junior

Although Public Research Institutions (PRIs) are large technology producers, they lack automated information tools that follow technical and scientific criteria for assessing and…

Abstract

Purpose

Although Public Research Institutions (PRIs) are large technology producers, they lack automated information tools that follow technical and scientific criteria for assessing and valuing patents. The assessment and valuation processes are stages of technology transfer (TT) that make it possible to obtain productive arrangements and guide the efforts of those involved in the development, maintenance and negotiation. This study aims to analyze the hybrid model of assessment and valuation of technologies by Soares (2018), applying the ‘Valorativo' software. In addition to patent value and indicator scores, the methods allow an understanding of the technology portfolio and its management.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is quali-quantitative, following an approach of applied nature and descriptive objectives. The research has bibliographical, documental and case study features based on the software development methodologies described in the study and the theoretical framework.

Findings

The Valorativo software assisted in the analysis of ten patents on PRIs. With the data collection and patent analysis, PAT1 scored highest among engineering patents, PAT3 scored highest among pharmaceutical patents and PAT10 scored highest among biotechnology patents. Five of the assessed patents resulted in a surplus of net present value (NPV), final net present value (NPVF) and royalties; revenue expectations outpaced investments.

Practical implications

The authors based the developed software on Soares’s (2018) methodology, with additional calculations and graphs. The Web software and the spreadsheet with Visual Basic for Application (VBA) were developed to deal with the patents assessment and valuation, helping in the analysis of their Legal Value, Technological Value and Market Conditions in the assessment process, and the Discounted Cash Flow and NPV in the valuation process.

Originality/value

The software helps with patent analysis and can generate indicators for traders, technology holders and researchers. Thus, it was necessary to understand and develop a theoretical-applied framework to outline and replicate the methodology clearly and easily.

Details

Innovation & Management Review, vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2515-8961

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 December 2022

Panagiota Koukouvinou, Nadia Simbi and Jonny Holmström

Prior research has highlighted the pervasive importance of digital technologies in business and societal settings, but their enabling role in digital transformation, and effective…

2570

Abstract

Purpose

Prior research has highlighted the pervasive importance of digital technologies in business and societal settings, but their enabling role in digital transformation, and effective forms of organization to address tensions that arise during attempts to promote it, have been insufficiently explored. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why tensions affect clusters established to foster digital transformation.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data were acquired through a qualitative exploratory holistic single case study, focused on the Swedish Cluster of Forest Technology. This included interviews with informants, selected by homogeneous purposive sampling, and event observation to investigate the personal perspectives of representatives of every company engaged in the cluster, followed by a thematic analysis of their comments.

Findings

The case study revealed three major tensions, between knowledge flow, collaboration and competition, but also others that were interrelated with those major tensions, related to matters such as trust and protection of intellectual property, power equality and hierarchy, and networks that must be managed in digital transformation efforts.

Originality/value

The paper extends understanding of the tensions that arise, and their management, in digital transformation processes.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 June 2022

Ong Tze San, Badar Latif and Assunta Di Vaio

Congruent with the world-wide call to combat global warming concerns and advance intellectual capital (IC), organisations are being pressured to ensure that IC is managed…

4602

Abstract

Purpose

Congruent with the world-wide call to combat global warming concerns and advance intellectual capital (IC), organisations are being pressured to ensure that IC is managed effectively to encourage green initiatives. In this regard, green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO) is emerged as a relevant IC. GEO is recognised as a mitigating factor of environmental degradation in the literature. Although prior literature has observed the nexus between GEO and firm performance, the role of GEO in leveraging sustainable performance has been limitedly explored. This study explored the relationship between IC as a GEO and enterprises' sustainable performance through the moderating roles of environmental consciousness and green technology dynamism (GTD) in the context of two developing countries (Pakistan and Malaysia).

Design/methodology/approach

Data provided by 296 respondents from 264 manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan and Malaysia were analysed through a three-wave research design. AMOS 23 software was used to perform covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM), while hierarchical regression analysis was applied using the SPSS 25 software to examine the causal relationships in the model.

Findings

IC as a GEO significantly influences sustainable performance, akin to environmental consciousness and GTD. Besides, GTD has a significant moderating effect between GEO and financial and environmental performance in Pakistan and Malaysia but not between GEO and social performance. Environmental consciousness has a significant moderating role in the impact of GEO on financial performance in Pakistan and Malaysia, but not on social and environmental performance.

Practical implications

The study's findings are useful for managers of Pakistani and Malaysian manufacturing SMEs to identify ways to encourage GEO to improve sustainable performance in their firms. The findings suggest that managers should effectively implement GTD and environmental consciousness to strengthen the GEO and sustainable performance relationship. Managers can use GEO concretely as a reference for the companies that intend to support the United Nation SDG-2030 agenda and to find new business opportunities for the implementation of sustainable development.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to examine the link between GEO and sustainable performance in developing countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia. Although the influence of various intangible assets or IC on sustainable performance has been widely examined in the literature, the role of GEO as IC has been limitedly explored. This study extends the literature by adding to the knowledge of GEO as a form of firms' IC that enhances boundary conditions in developing countries.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 March 2023

María Belén Prados-Peña, George Pavlidis and Ana García-López

This study aims to analyze the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) on heritage conservation and preservation, and to identify relevant future research…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) on heritage conservation and preservation, and to identify relevant future research trends, by applying scientometrics.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 1,646 articles, published between 1985 and 2021, concerning research on the application of ML and AI in cultural heritage were collected from the Scopus database and analyzed using bibliometric methodologies.

Findings

The findings of this study have shown that although there is a very important increase in academic literature in relation to AI and ML, publications that specifically deal with these issues in relation to cultural heritage and its conservation and preservation are significantly limited.

Originality/value

This study enriches the academic outline by highlighting the limited literature in this context and therefore the need to advance the study of AI and ML as key elements that support heritage researchers and practitioners in conservation and preservation work.

Details

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1266

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Ana Burcharth, Mette Præst Knudsen and Helle Alsted Søndergaard

The purpose of this paper is to examine how organisational activities that formally provide employees with work autonomy explain the performance of open innovation (OI).

16532

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how organisational activities that formally provide employees with work autonomy explain the performance of open innovation (OI).

Design/methodology/approach

The study reports the results of mediation analyses conducted on the basis of survey data from 307 firms.

Findings

The economic benefits of both inbound and outbound OI are fully captured only if firms provide employees with time, freedom and independence. The results show that employee autonomy fully mediates the relationship between openness and innovation sales, while the adoption of inbound OI is positively associated with the introduction of new products.

Practical implications

The opening of innovation induces managers to provide employees with discretion, as OI requires high levels of flexibility and experimentation.

Originality/value

The paper addresses theoretically and empirically the role of job design in the implementation of OI, while also distinguishing between the effects of inbound and outbound practices on innovation performance.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 23 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Per Erik Eriksson

The purpose of this study is to investigate how procurement strategies may be designed to facilitate exploration and exploitation in construction projects.

12409

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how procurement strategies may be designed to facilitate exploration and exploitation in construction projects.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a literature review of organizational research and construction management literature together with a brief interview study of Swedish clients and contractors.

Findings

The theoretical and empirical findings propose that small and simple projects with low uncertainty and scarce resources may focus on exploitation to enhance short-term efficiency through traditional procurement strategies including delivery systems that separate the actors and their activities (i.e. pure design-build- or design-bid-build-contracts), fixed price payment and price focus in bid evaluation. Large complex projects with high uncertainty and customization benefit from combining exploration and exploitation to enhance sustainable performance. This requires collaborative procurement strategies including joint specification through early contractor involvement, cost reimbursement coupled with incentive-based payment, bid evaluation based on multiple criteria and collaborative tools and activities in partnering arrangements.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to organizational learning literature by pinpointing the need for integrating procurement strategies that enhance combination of exploration and exploitation. The main contribution to the construction management literature involves the investigation of how procurement strategies may affect exploration and exploitation, as identified and articulated in the propositions developed in this paper.

Practical implications

From a practical perspective, the findings highlight the importance of tailoring procurement strategies to project characteristics to enhance a suitable balance between exploration and exploitation in construction projects.

Originality/value

The explicit focus on the operational project-level is uncommon but relevant in organizational learning literature.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 September 2021

Johannes W.F.C. van Lieshout, Jeroen M. van der Velden, Robert J. Blomme and Pascale Peters

Establishing a competitive advantage in today's dynamic environment involves optimizing an organization's exploration and exploitation strategy. This paper aims to explore how an…

6735

Abstract

Purpose

Establishing a competitive advantage in today's dynamic environment involves optimizing an organization's exploration and exploitation strategy. This paper aims to explore how an open innovation strategy complements the organization's ambidextrous strategy in attaining a competitive advantage. Organizational ambidexterity and dynamic capability theories are also explored to investigate the impact of open innovation on the organization's ambidextrous strategy and competitive advantage – especially inbound and outbound open innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a systematic literature review using Boolean search techniques, which was focused on the research fields of the sub-areas of general management, strategy, innovation, organization studies, information management, entrepreneurship, international business, marketing, and economics, supplemented by the snowball technique.

Findings

Organizations that combine their ambidextrous strategy with open innovation attributes achieve a competitive advantage through developing their dynamic capabilities by which organizations change their value proposition. This study also shows that an ambidextrous strategy should no longer be viewed as a structural solution implemented by management, but also as a bottom-up intervention. Additionally, the authors found that the organization's dynamic capabilities establish a feedback loop, which changes the organization's ambidextrous strategy to resolve the efficiency–agility paradox.

Originality/value

Previous research has focused on strategic orientation; however, hardly any research has investigated how the interrelatedness of open innovation, organizational ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities support a competitive advantage. The authors present a conceptual model that inspires new research avenues.

Details

European Journal of Management Studies, vol. 26 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2183-4172

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 October 2021

Matteo Mura, Pietro Micheli and Mariolina Longo

This study aims to investigate how dynamic tensions between performance measurement system (PMS) uses enable organizations to achieve both exploitation and exploration and enhance…

2875

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how dynamic tensions between performance measurement system (PMS) uses enable organizations to achieve both exploitation and exploration and enhance firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected survey data on 153 Italian companies. Scales for each construct were validated through an exploratory factor analysis. Data on firm performance were cross-validated by using lagged accounting data. The authors tested our hypotheses using hierarchical ordinary least squares regressions, together with bootstrapping procedures for the test on mediation.

Findings

A diagnostic use of PMS has a positive association with both exploitation – e.g. reductions in total costs and lead times – and exploration, e.g. introduction of new products and extension of product ranges. The dynamic tension created by a joint diagnostic and interactive use has the strongest association with organizational ambidexterity, measured as the multiplicative interaction between exploration and exploitation.

Practical implications

If an organization or business unit is mainly pursuing exploitative goals, a mainly diagnostic use of PMS would be most suitable. If goals are both exploitative and explorative, a mix of diagnostic and interactive uses would be most effective.

Originality/value

This research helps reconcile conflicting views in the literature. The diagnostic use of PMS, far from acting as a “negative force,” appears to be necessary to guide opportunity search and to establish an appropriate scope for exploration-related activities. The authors’ focus on the uses of PMSs shows that ambidexterity is achieved through managerial capability, rather than just through the introduction of systems and structures.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 41 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

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