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1 – 10 of 263Lingjia Li, Jing Dai, Bin Guo and Yongyi Shou
As the start of a new product development (NPD) process, the front fuzzy end (FFE) is believed to determine new product performance to a large extent. However, its effects on new…
Abstract
Purpose
As the start of a new product development (NPD) process, the front fuzzy end (FFE) is believed to determine new product performance to a large extent. However, its effects on new product performance, particularly in terms of quality and cost, lack empirical evidence in the extant literature. Moreover, the joint performance effects of the FFE and cross-functional interfaces in later NPD stages (i.e. product development and product launch) are largely overlooked and deserve further investigation. Therefore, this study aims to explore the direct effects of the FFE and later stages’ joint moderating effects on new product performance (i.e. quality and cost) from a holistic process view.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model is proposed to hypothesize the FFE–new product performance relationships and the joint performance effects of cross-functional interface management. A sample of 196 firms from an international survey is used and hierarchical linear regression is employed to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
This study finds that FFE implementation contributes to both new product quality and cost performance. Moreover, interface management in multiple NPD stages has synergistic performance effects. Specifically, the FFE, customer involvement in product development and manufacturing flexibility in product launch jointly improve new product quality performance, while the FFE, supplier involvement in product development and manufacturing flexibility in product launch jointly improve new product cost performance.
Originality/value
This study extends the NPD literature by deepening the understanding of the key roles of the FFE on new product performance and evidencing the synergistic effects of cross-functional interfaces in multiple NPD stages. Further, this study also highlights the differential joint moderating effects of interface management in later NPD stages on new product quality and cost performance. This study also offers insightful implications to NPD managers.
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Karla Marie B. Paredes, Malin Olander Roese and Ulf Johansson
Incumbent retail organisations need to develop new capabilities to adapt with the increasingly competitive retail landscape. Despite the growing relevance of innovation in retail…
Abstract
Purpose
Incumbent retail organisations need to develop new capabilities to adapt with the increasingly competitive retail landscape. Despite the growing relevance of innovation in retail practice, the strategic management of innovation in retailing is still vastly under-researched. This explorative study thus aims to investigate how incumbent retail firms can organise for innovation from an organisational ambidexterity perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A single-case study of an established Swedish retail firm was conducted from December 2016 to July 2018 and followed up in June 2021. The authors followed the process of implementation of organisational changes aimed to increase innovation in the company, particularly the introduction of a digital marketing initiative and a corporate innovation hub. Data collection was based on nine semi-structured interviews and participant observations and unstructured interviews from 13 meetings and workshops. An abductive approach to data analysis was followed, iteratively comparing theoretical concepts and empirical data using open, axial and selective coding to distil findings into aggregated themes.
Findings
Given the inherently limited formalisation of innovation processes in most retail organisations, structural ambidexterity appears to be necessary when the aim is radical, strategic retail innovation. Structural mechanisms are able to safeguard the space and resources to focus on long-term research and projects with higher risk and uncertainty; however, integration of innovation activities to the mainstream organisation is critical. Pursuing contextual ambidexterity, wherein instead of structural solutions, employees are empowered to divide employees' time between innovation-related and efficiency-related tasks, is more likely related to retail innovations that are incremental and operational.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the emerging topic of strategic management of innovation in retailing, by explicating how incumbent retailers can organise for innovation depending on the type of innovation that is aimed for, using organisational ambidexterity as a novel perspective.
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Kiran Patil, Vipul Garg, Janeth Gabaldon, Himali Patil, Suman Niranjan and Timothy Hawkins
This paper aims to examine how interfirm transactional and relational assets drive firm performance (FP) in digitally integrated supply chains.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how interfirm transactional and relational assets drive firm performance (FP) in digitally integrated supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors combine the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and Relational Exchange Theory (RET) frameworks to hypothesize that FP will be a function of Asset Specificity (AS), Digital Technology Usage (DTU) and Collaborative Information Sharing (CIS). In addition, the authors hypothesize that Supply Chain Integration (SCI) will partially mediate the effect of DTU and fully mediate the impact of AS and CIS on FP. A cross-sectional survey of supply chain managers is used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Findings indicate that specific investments in digitally integrated supply chains would increase FP. In addition, SCI fully mediates the relationships between AS and FP and CIS and FP, while SCI partially mediates the influence of DTU on FP.
Practical implications
Managers could strategically engage in the technologies that effectively fit within the firm’s supply chain strategies and seek to develop a pragmatic expertise that enables the effective use of technology in a comprehensive setting.
Originality/value
The study enriches the extant literature by incorporating TCE and RET as contradictory viewpoints on AS and investigating how transactional and relational assets affect FP in digitally integrated supply chains.
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Joana Kuntz, Jennifer Hoi Ki Wong and Susan Budge
Ambidexterity increases an organisation’s capability to successfully navigate dynamic and uncertain environments. While leaders are expected to model flexible learning and…
Abstract
Purpose
Ambidexterity increases an organisation’s capability to successfully navigate dynamic and uncertain environments. While leaders are expected to model flexible learning and practices throughout the organisation, little is known about the leader characteristics and contextual factors that underpin ambidexterity. This study aims to explore whether paradoxical thinking, integrator behaviours and managerial role and level influence the likelihood of leaders exhibiting ambidexterity.
Design/methodology/approach
This study relied on a self-report questionnaire completed by 152 managers of a large, public health-care organisation in New Zealand. A k-means cluster analysis of the data was conducted to identify leader ambidexterity clusters, and the hypothesised effects were tested with multinomial logistic regressions.
Findings
Health-care managers favoured exploitation and moderate ambidexterity. Higher levels of integrator behaviours (i.e. reflective learning and context responsiveness) were found among leaders who showed high ambidexterity. Context responsiveness was the sole significant predictor distinguishing between high ambidexterity and other ambidexterity profiles. No statistically significant differences in ambidexterity cluster membership were found between clinical and non-clinical roles and across managerial levels.
Research limitations/implications
While our study relied on a cross-sectional self-reported design, the findings underscore the importance of learning behaviours and context responsiveness to ambidexterity. This study discusses avenues for future research and leadership development towards improved organisational learning systems and practices.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to test the contribution of paradoxical thinking and integrator behaviours to health-care leader ambidexterity and to examine differences in ambidexterity profiles across managerial levels and roles. The factor analysis suggests that integrator behaviours represent two distinct constructs: reflective le`arning and context responsiveness.
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Catherine P. Killen, Shankar Sankaran, Michael Knapp and Chris Stevens
The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizations manage and integrate exploration and exploitation across the innovation project portfolio. Such ambidextrous capabilities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizations manage and integrate exploration and exploitation across the innovation project portfolio. Such ambidextrous capabilities are required for organizations to innovate and succeed in today's rapidly changing competitive environment. Understanding how exploration and exploitation projects are integrated can illustrate ways to enhance ambidexterity and boost learning for the benefit of both approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple-case study approach was used to explore innovation portfolio management in six large organizations that emphasize innovation in their strategies.
Findings
The findings draw upon concepts of paradox and contingency to reveal that the inherent tension between formality and flexibility in managing innovation project portfolios is aligned with the need for organizational ambidexterity that maintains effective exploitative innovation while supporting explorative innovation capabilities. Four integration mechanisms are identified that enhance ambidexterity across the innovation portfolio by embedding processes for transition from exploration to exploitation and cross-fertilizing knowledge to build innovation capability across both exploration and exploitation.
Practical implications
Managers may find inspiration on ways to enhance learning by bridging exploration and exploitation projects from the four types of integration mechanisms. Recognizing the paradoxical nature of the tension between formality and flexibility in project and portfolio management may also help guide organizations to effectively develop ambidextrous approaches to enhance overall innovation outcomes.
Originality/value
In contrast to perspectives which suggest that paradox and contingency approaches represent disparate perspectives, the authors demonstrate how they can complement each other and work together through innovation portfolio management to support ambidexterity at the portfolio and project levels.
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Lucía Garcés-Galdeano, Josip Kotlar, Ana Lucía Caicedo-Leitón, Martín Larraza-Kintana and Federico Frattini
Absorptive capacity (AC), the ability to leverage external knowledge for innovation, helps explain the mixed findings on family firms' (FFs) innovation performance. Our research…
Abstract
Purpose
Absorptive capacity (AC), the ability to leverage external knowledge for innovation, helps explain the mixed findings on family firms' (FFs) innovation performance. Our research focuses on the chief executive officer (CEO)’s role – whether family or non-family and founding or later generation – in influencing AC. We also explore how firm size and environmental dynamism affect these relationships, offering insights into varying AC levels among FFs.
Design/methodology/approach
Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were estimated to test the hypotheses using a sample of 364 FFs in Spain.
Findings
FFs’ AC is greater when the CEO is a family member, and even more so when the family CEO belongs to the founding family generation. While AC diminishes in larger FFs, this effect is mitigated when the CEO is a family member. The predicted moderating effect of environmental dynamics is not supported by the analyses.
Originality/value
This paper adds insights about the drivers of heterogeneity in innovation among FFs, addressing recent calls for more nuanced views of how family members drive the strategic behavior of the business and incorporating considerations of different types of FFs based on the identity of the firm CEO. The results overall support the theoretical claims and also open up important questions for future studies.
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Carla Cleri Ferreira and Frida Lind
The purpose of this paper is to characterize the interfaces between manufacturing companies and the Internet of Things (IoT) suppliers involved in their digital servitization.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to characterize the interfaces between manufacturing companies and the Internet of Things (IoT) suppliers involved in their digital servitization.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds on an explorative case study of a manufacturing firm and its IoT suppliers. This paper relies on the Industrial Network Approach to study interfaces between buying firms and their suppliers.
Findings
This paper identifies three distinct types of supplier interfaces: connected, digital and digital-physical. They all contain technical resource interfaces with additional organizational and/or technical complexities that need to be managed. Connectivity, an Agile approach to software development and strong technical dependence emerged as key factors that impact the interactions between manufacturing firms and IoT suppliers and how their resources are combined.
Practical implications
This paper offers managerial implications regarding the importance of internal organization (such as appropriate cross-functional teams) to manage the dynamics of collaborations required by digital technologies, maintain interactions with IoT suppliers and identify and manage interdependences between IoT suppliers. Building close relationships with suppliers of crucial infrastructure (e.g. IoT cloud platform and data security systems) can also be beneficial for manufacturing firms to reduce risks. Finally, attention should be given to IoT technology strategy, which impacts both digital and digital-physical supplier interfaces.
Originality/value
In digital servitization, manufacturing firms are heavily reliant on external resources for IoT technology. Despite this, few studies have investigated the characteristics of their interfaces with IoT suppliers, how these can be managed and how resources are combined.
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Elina Karttunen, Katrina Lintukangas and Jukka Hallikas
The aim of this study was to identify interventions for and mechanisms of the digital transformation of purchasing and supply management (PSM) processes. The digital…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to identify interventions for and mechanisms of the digital transformation of purchasing and supply management (PSM) processes. The digital transformation of tactical and operational PSM processes has often progressed slowly despite the solid knowledge of advanced technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a qualitative exploratory approach based on 14 interviews with PSM executives from firms that are continuously working toward using advanced technologies in their PSM processes but have not yet gained full strategic benefits from digital transformation.
Findings
This study formulates five propositions regarding interventions and mechanisms that can positively influence the digital transformation of PSM processes. The main intervention in this regard is the renewal of data infrastructure, including platforms. PSM-related data should meet needs from both tactical and operational viewpoints. When applications serve as a source of data, they support digital transformation. Mechanisms such as supplier measurement and process improvement are outcomes of the digital transformation of PSM processes.
Practical implications
This study highlights the importance of common data sets for tactical and operational purchasing. These purchasing data should be owned and served by a cross-functional team. To create this interoperability, a firm needs global governance of open standards.
Originality/value
This study makes a theoretical contribution to the discussion of what kind of interventions positively influence on the digital transformation of PSM processes. Specifically, this study explains the integration needs of data and applications.
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The study aims to design a holistic multi-stage hierarchical model that leverages the firm's knowledge-enabled distinctive core competencies (DCCs) and builds enduring and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to design a holistic multi-stage hierarchical model that leverages the firm's knowledge-enabled distinctive core competencies (DCCs) and builds enduring and profitable customer relationships to achieve sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in dynamic and challenging environments. It developed a knowledge-enabled customer-centric competitiveness strategy (KCCS) model that integrates four pillars: business process reengineering (BPR), knowledge management (KM), customer relationship management (CRM) and competitiveness strategy. It also proposed a BPR model to enable cross-functional cooperation and coordination for firms dealing with customers, provided a blueprint for KCCS's successful implementation and compared the KCCS model with other customer-centric (CC) approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted an exploratory research design based on a literature review of relevant studies. It has systematically analyzed 130 articles and books from Scopus, the Web of Science, Google Scholar and other renowned databases from 1982 to 2022. The analysis involved identifying and selecting relevant literature and conducting thematic research to develop a theoretical KCCS model that integrates BPR, KM, CRM, competitiveness strategy and the firm's SCA into a KCCS model.
Findings
This study developed an integrative KCCS theoretical model rooted in the extant literature in BPR, KM, CRM, competitiveness strategy, DCCs, SCA and other fields. The study proposed a BPR model as a significant component of KCCS that enables cross-functional cooperation and coordination, which are often troublesome for firms in their dealings with customers. The study also provided a blueprint for successfully implementing the KCCS model and compared the KCCS model with other CC approaches.
Originality/value
This study filled many research gaps in the literature in which knowledge-enabled CC frameworks are widely scattered. It offered a conceptual multi-stage hierarchical KCCS model that combines interrelated elements of BPR, KM, CRM, and competitiveness strategy. It proposed a BPR model as a significant component of the KCCS that enables cross-functional cooperation and coordination, which frequently form barriers when dealing with customers. It also provided a blueprint for successfully implementing the KCCS and compared it with other CC approaches.
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The objective of this research is to explore integration and transition activities in large industrial projects. The purpose is to (a) obtain a better understanding of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this research is to explore integration and transition activities in large industrial projects. The purpose is to (a) obtain a better understanding of the integration and transition activities between the project front-end (FE) and project initiation phases (PIPs), (b) explore what, how and when these integrations and transitions occur, and (c) explore what the integration and transition activities mean to project practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research design methodology is followed, based on interviews using open-ended questions. An expert panel is used to provide responses to questions pertaining to the integration and transition between the project FE and PIP. The research is focused on managing large projects in the South African electrical engineering industrial projects industry. A literature review combined with empirical analysis reflects the importance of integrating and transitioning in project business.
Findings
The findings provide guidance to researchers and practitioners on integration and transition mechanisms, how and when these occur. It highlights the benefits of integration and transition activities. Important lessons for researchers and practitioners are provided together with areas for future research.
Originality/value
This is an interpretative analysis of expert opinion. Expert panel members are experienced at senior decision-making level, and their expertise was accessed based on experience, education and knowledge. This extensive experience is shared in this paper providing insights into their opinions, experiences, success and failures. These inputs together with the literature review provide interesting implications for both a theoretical foundation as well as practical implications for practitioners.
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