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1 – 10 of 80Sharlene Biswas and Chris Akroyd
The purpose of this paper is to examine the governance of inter-firm co-development in an open innovation setting and show how a stage-gate product development process can be used…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the governance of inter-firm co-development in an open innovation setting and show how a stage-gate product development process can be used to support this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a qualitative case-study approach informed by ethnomethodology. Data were obtained via semi-structured interviews and document analysis.
Findings
They found that in an open innovation setting – where the producing partner relies on a research partner for all product development activities – a stage-gate product development process can act as a governance mechanism, as it enables the development of trust and cooperation which supports the co-development relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The implication of this finding is that a stage-gate process can be a flexible governance mechanism, which can adapt over time in relation to the needs of the co-development partners in an open innovation setting. This also lays the groundwork for future research to explore the applicability of this tool in other settings, e.g. outsourcing arrangements as well as help guide the design and implementation of future governance mechanisms.
Originality/value
In the context of accounting research, this paper helps practitioners and academics understand how a stage-gate process can be used as a governance mechanism to manage and control co-development projects in an open innovation setting.
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Julia Yonghua Wu, Chris Akroyd and Frederick Ng
This paper aims to examine the management controls that support (and fail to support) a craft brewery’s servitization journey from start-up, through growth, to maturity. It…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the management controls that support (and fail to support) a craft brewery’s servitization journey from start-up, through growth, to maturity. It enriches our understanding of how management controls can facilitate the discovery of a service-identity that provides the foundation for servitization.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on in-depth interviews, fieldwork and secondary data analyses, this paper reports on a longitudinal case study of a craft brewery. The authors trace the case company’s servitization journey using a service-dominant logic theoretical perspective. This perspective focuses us on how the value of a product is cocreated with customers, rather than being created by the firm and then distributed.
Findings
The study found that many management controls emerged at the craft brewery from start-up to maturity. Some management controls supported a goods logic, while others supported a service logic. The findings highlight how people and cultural controls in particular enabled the company to move toward a service logic focused on servitization. These management controls informed the evolution of offerings, structure reconfiguration and resources at the craft brewery necessary to support servitization.
Originality/value
Studying a craft brewery contributes an alternative type of manufacturing context and shows how service-identity features such as craftiness, collectiveness, neolocalism and innovation affect a company’s servitization journey.
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Anderson Betti Frare, Ana Paula Capuano da Cruz, Carlos Eduardo Facin Lavarda and Chris Akroyd
This study aims to understand the relationship between the elements of a startup firms’ management control system (MCS) package, its entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the relationship between the elements of a startup firms’ management control system (MCS) package, its entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected survey data from a sample of 100 Brazilian startups who had exited technology-based parks and incubators. The authors used two data analysis techniques, namely, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Findings
The findings show that cultural and planning controls were the only two MCS elements that were included in all high-performing startup firms’ MCS packages. The authors also found that EO has a positive influence on firm performance through the MCS package.
Research limitations/implications
The mixed-method approach allowed for a holistic view of the analyzed phenomenon. PLS-SEM analysis was applied to the symmetric relationships between the proposed relationships while fsQCA was used to analyze the asymmetric combinations between EO dimensions and MCS package elements, which promoted high firm performance.
Practical implications
The authors show how different combinations of MCS elements form a package, mediating EO, which can enable high performance.
Originality/value
Using fsQCA and PLS-SEM, the authors were able to better understand the important role that MCS package adoption has on a startups’ performance and provide new evidence regarding the interface between MCS and EO. This extends the understanding of the importance that cultural and planning controls have in an MCS package to support startup performance.
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Sharlene Sheetal Narayan Biswas, Chris Akroyd and Norio Sawabe
Using institutional theory, this study aims to understand how the management control systems (MCSs) designed by top managers influence the micro-level process practices of…
Abstract
Purpose
Using institutional theory, this study aims to understand how the management control systems (MCSs) designed by top managers influence the micro-level process practices of organization members during product innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reports on a case study carried out at NZMed to examine the design and use of MCSs and their product innovation practices. Simons’ levers of control was used to understand the ways in which MCSs were designed and used in a product innovation setting.
Findings
The findings indicate that the everyday micro-level processes of organization members encoded MCS when their espoused values aligned with those of top managers. However, when the perspectives within the organization differed, variations to the micro-level processes of organization members emerged. The authors show how this resulted in an increase in innovation capabilities necessary to meet organizational goals.
Practical implications
The misalignment between espoused values and enacted values had a positive effect as it helped the organization maintain their innovation culture, and build long-term trusting relationships with suppliers which enabled the achievement of organizational goals.
Originality/value
By focusing on the relationship between MCS and the micro-level processes of organization members in product innovation, the paper shows how the lack of alignment between the espoused values of top management and the enacted values of project managers explained the variations between the MCS used by top managers and the practices of project teams at our case study company.
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Sharlene Sheetal Narayan Biswas and Chris Akroyd
This paper aims to understand the strategic management of innovation by examining the effect that management control systems (MCS) have on innovation activities during the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to understand the strategic management of innovation by examining the effect that management control systems (MCS) have on innovation activities during the strategic change process.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study was carried out at an innovative company as they undertook a strategic change from closed innovation to open innovation. Simons’ levers of control was used to frame the ways in which MCS were designed and used by managers and the effect MCS have on the innovation activities of organization members.
Findings
The findings indicate that while managers designed and used MCS to support a drive toward open innovation, organization members did not change their innovation activities. Instead, the findings show that new MCS enabled improvements to their closed innovation strategy. This led to a decrease in the time taken to develop new products, which resulted in increased customer satisfaction, which contributed to the achievement of organizational goals.
Originality/value
By focusing on the relationship between MCS and innovation activities in the strategic change process, the paper sheds new light on the ability of MCS to change the innovation activities of organization members. Even though the innovation activities at our case company did not change the interactions between the MCS enabled organizational goals to be achieved as they provided the necessary information infrastructure and motivated goal congruence.
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Gary Spraakman, Winnie O’Grady, Davood Askarany and Chris Akroyd
This paper aims to show how our understanding of the effects of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems on management accounting are influenced through “nudging” by researchers…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to show how our understanding of the effects of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems on management accounting are influenced through “nudging” by researchers in their preamble before interviews begin.
Design/methodology/approach
There were two groups of comparable respondents. Each group received a different preamble to the same questions. The differences in group responses were analyzed.
Findings
When the impact of ERP implementation on the physical, transactional and information flows within the firm were nudged, the responses focused on how the chart of accounts had to be expanded to account for the additional data introduced by transaction processing. When the IT and ERP system knowledge and skills were nudged, the responses tended to emphasize analyses or the use of new information through the use of drill down functionality. This research provides new insights and contributions to understanding how nudging affects or directs respondent assessments of the impact of ERP systems on management accounting.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited by the relatively small samples and by the fact that these were different research projects.
Practical implications
Nudging has an obvious impact on research that should not be ignored.
Social implications
Unintentional nudging should be considered with all research projects.
Originality/value
This paper makes explicit that nudging occurs in research whether intentional or unintentional.
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Anderson Betti Frare and Chris Akroyd
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of performance management (PM) practices on in-bound open innovation (OI) and out-bound OI. To do this, the authors examine the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of performance management (PM) practices on in-bound open innovation (OI) and out-bound OI. To do this, the authors examine the organizational effectiveness as well as the non-financial and financial performance of Brazilian startups that have had recent OI relationships with larger companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from 103 Brazilian startups, the hypotheses were tested via partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). An additional analysis was performed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Findings
The findings show that PM practices orchestrate in-bound OI and out-bound OI; however, only in-bound OI promotes organizational effectiveness in Brazilian startups. Organizational effectiveness results in good non-financial performance, which in turn improves financial performance. PM practices have an indirect effect on financial performance from the serial mediation of in-bound OI, organizational effectiveness and non-financial performance. Moreover, several combinations of conditions lead to high levels of organizational effectiveness, non-financial performance and financial performance.
Originality/value
This study provides new evidence and insights from an emerging market on the antecedents and consequences of startups' OI adoption.
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Ramona Zharfpeykan and Chris Akroyd
This paper aims to evaluate the outcome effectiveness of the global reporting initiatives (GRI) transitions by understanding how companies have responded to the changes from G3.1…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the outcome effectiveness of the global reporting initiatives (GRI) transitions by understanding how companies have responded to the changes from G3.1 to G4 and finally to the GRI Standards.
Design/methodology/approach
A quality disclosure score is developed that incorporates assessments of both the quality of disclosures and the materiality of Australian companies. To analyse materiality, survey data were collected from 187 companies. Disclosure scores are based on a content analysis of the sustainability reports of 12 mining and metals companies and 12 financial services companies that used the GRI Standards from 2011 to 2019 (a total of 213 reports).
Findings
The study found that the GRI transitions have not led to companies improving the quality of their disclosures on areas considered important for them to achieve their social and environmental goals. Instead, the companies tended to use a greenwashing strategy, where the quality of disclosure of material issues declined or fluctuated over time.
Practical implications
From a practical perspective, the disclosure score developed in this paper enables managers of companies to recognize a threshold of completeness and to summarize the areas that are not materially relevant to their business.
Social implications
The results are potentially helpful for investors, shareholders and other stakeholders, enabling them to better understand sustainability reports.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the body of research in sustainability reporting by providing evidence on the outcome effectiveness of the latest updates in the GRI framework.
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