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This paper aims to examine the effects of design sources (user design vs. company design) on customers’ perceived value (perceived self-improvement and perceived uncertainty) and consequently purchase intention, as well as the moderating effect of brand strength in the context of purchasing utilitarian products.

Two studies were conducted. Study 1 used a laboratory experiment (n = 160) to test the effects of design sources on perceived self-improvement, perceived uncertainty and purchase intention. Study 2 used an online experiment (n = 312) to examine the moderating effect of brand strength.

The results showed that user design is a double-edged sword for companies. Compared with company design, user design is associated with stronger self-improvement and uncertainty as perceived by customers. Perceived self-improvement is positively related to purchase intention, while perceived uncertainty undermines purchase intention. Moreover, for weak brands, perceived self-improvement is significantly stronger in user design than company design, while for strong brands, this relationship is not significant.

This paper draws on mental accounting theory to study the perceived benefits and risks of user design of utilitarian products, and highlights the double-edged effects of user design on customers’ perceived value and purchase decision. The findings provide more rounded insights on user design of utilitarian products, complementing the one-sided view of customers’ positive perceives of user design in unclassified product categories.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of organisational ambidexterity, and identify drivers of and barriers to ambidexterity in the high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, using fine-grained qualitative evidence. This is much needed to generate insights on how organisational ambidexterity actually takes place in SMEs.

This study is exploratory in nature, based on qualitative in-depth interview data collected from 20 UK high-tech SMEs in five industries.

The results reveal that SMEs leverage resources through intra-firm and inter-firm collaborations to pursue ambidexterity sequentially or simultaneously, using a range of drivers and overcoming a range of barriers.

The data were gathered from a single informant from each firm. Therefore, more in-depth, longitudinal, qualitative research using multiple sources of data may be required to develop deeper insights into ambidexterity.

Managers of high-tech SMEs need to focus on specific barriers to ambidexterity and devise effective mechanisms to promote the drivers of ambidexterity. The mechanisms to achieve ambidexterity as identified in this study will benefit high-tech SMEs in particular, and firms in general.

The study contributes to the understanding of organisational ambidexterity in high-tech SMEs by exploring the mechanisms through which SMEs implement organisational ambidexterity despite their resource constraints. This counteracts the conventional view that it is difficult for SMEs to pursue ambidexterity.

Welcome to the seventh volume of Research Methodology in Strategy and Management. The mission of this book series is to provide a forum for critique, commentary, and discussion about key methodology issues in the strategic management field. Strategic management relies on an array of complex methods to understand how firms can attain and sustain competitive advantage. How researchers employ different methods to conduct their research in different research contexts and understand the implications associated with their research choices is fundamental to the methodological rigour and the advancement of strategic management theory.

This paper challenges a concurrent perception that total quality is a management fad and being replaced by business excellence, and suggests that quality is and will be a coherent part of, and a fundamental way to business excellence. This paper further proposes that quality management will move to a higher platform: creative quality, which will be the only sustaining competitive advantage in the future hyper‐dynamic business world. By elaborating the characteristics and reflexes in connection to the attainment of creative quality, this paper presents a new agenda for business excellence.

Welcome to the eighth volume of Research Methodology in Strategy and Management. The theme of this volume is West Meets East: Building Theoretical Bridges. It complements the seventh volume West Meets East: Toward Methodological Exchange. The two volumes together examine the relevance of Western theories and methods in the Eastern research context. In particular, this volume examines the key theoretical areas that strategic management research draws from to understand how managers can lead their companies to achieve competitive advantage in the increasingly globalised economy. We not only focus on the extent to which theories developed in the West can be applied in the understanding of business practice and performance in the East, but also explore methods for developing new insights and theories rooted in the Eastern business practice.

This paper reviews the conceptual framework of organisational learning, and identifies five focuses of the concept and practices within the existing literature, namely, focus on collectivity of individual learning; process or system; culture or metaphor; knowledge management; and continuous improvement. In line with current industrial contexts, this paper tentatively redefines the concept of organisational learning, incorporating the aspect of radical innovation and creativity. The aim of this paper is to provide a clarified and updated understanding of organisational learning.