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1 – 10 of over 20000Joakim Winborg and Gustav Hägg
In the literature there is limited knowledge about how to prepare students for a corporate entrepreneurial career. The purpose is therefore to develop a framework for…
Abstract
Purpose
In the literature there is limited knowledge about how to prepare students for a corporate entrepreneurial career. The purpose is therefore to develop a framework for understanding the role corporate development projects play in corporate entrepreneurship education, and to examine the potential role of the design of the project. The study defines a corporate development project as a project being part of an academic education to provide students with working experiences situated in an experiential learning process.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on work-integrated learning literature, the authors first develop a conceptual framework. Thereafter, they undertake a multiple case study using data from a Master's Program in Corporate Entrepreneurship. Starting from the conceptual framework, the authors employ deductive thematic analysis in order to analyze data and finally to develop an elaborated framework.
Findings
In the framework, the authors identify and label five categories of learning outcomes from the corporate development project. The framework helps understand the interplay between the different learning outcomes in students' learning process and shows how the design of the project shapes the learning process.
Practical implications
The framework can assist educators in designing and integrating the corporate development project as a key module within a corporate entrepreneurship academic program.
Originality/value
Based on the framework, the study develops the knowledge about the design of corporate entrepreneurship education. Future research should test the framework using data from other academic programs in corporate entrepreneurship.
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Garrett Lane Cohee, Jeff Barrows and Rob Handfield
Each year, the US defense industry outsources nearly $400 bn of domestic goods and services through competitive bids. These procurement activities are quite often complex and…
Abstract
Purpose
Each year, the US defense industry outsources nearly $400 bn of domestic goods and services through competitive bids. These procurement activities are quite often complex and specialized in nature because of a highly regulated federal acquisition contracting environment. Ongoing calls to improve supplier management and drive innovation in the defense industry offers an opportunity to adopt Early Supplier Integration (ESI) initiatives that have proven successful in the private sector. This paper identifies critical ESI activities and acquisition practices that the defense industry should adopt to ensure enhanced effectiveness in new product development.
Design/methodology/approach
Leveraging a conceptual ESI model derived from the research, an in-depth case study of 12 product development projects from a major defense contractor was performed. In the context of project performance, critical ESI activities and moderating effects were assessed.
Findings
Three key ESI activities have the greatest impact on aggregate project performance: system design involvement, design adjustment opportunities and design for manufacturability/assembly/testability involvement. Use of formal supplier agreements also significantly impacts project performance during the development phase. In addition, project complexity and product team maturity were identified as environment moderators; higher complexity projects tended to negatively moderate the impact of ESI upon performance, and higher team maturity levels tended to positively moderate the impact of ESI upon performance.
Originality/value
The results provide a sound framework for empirical validation through future quantitative studies and defense industry analyses. In addition, insights and recommendations for interpretation and adaptation of federal acquisition regulations to allow increased utilization of ESI within the defense industry are substantiated.
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Dieudonné Sawadogo, Seydou Sané and Somnoma Edouard Kaboré
The objectives of this study are twofold: first, to identify the effect of sustainability management on the success of international development projects, and second, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The objectives of this study are twofold: first, to identify the effect of sustainability management on the success of international development projects, and second, to investigate the moderating role of political and social skills on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a quantitative research methodology based on questionnaire data collected from 43 international development project managers from various fields in Burkina Faso (West Africa). Descriptive statistics and exploratory and confirmatory analyses using principal component analysis were used to assess the quality of the measurement model. A multiple regression analysis based on the partial least squares approach was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that sustainability management positively contributes to the success of international development projects. However, given the specificities of these projects and their perception of success, the project coordinator's political and social skills do not predict a greater impact of sustainability management on the success of international development projects. The study also found that project coordinators prioritize their technical skills over behavioral ones.
Originality/value
This study fills a gap in the literature, given that little is known about the moderating role of political and social skills in the effect of sustainability management on the success of specific projects such as international development projects.
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Pooja Chaoji and Miia Martinsuo
This paper empirically investigates the processes by which manufacturing firms create radical innovations in their core production process, referred to as radical manufacturing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper empirically investigates the processes by which manufacturing firms create radical innovations in their core production process, referred to as radical manufacturing technology innovations (RMTI). The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the processes and practices manufacturing firms use to create RMTI.
Design/methodology/approach
Creation processes for 23 RMTI projects from diverse industry and technology contexts are explored. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, and an inductive analysis was carried out to identify similarities and differences in RMTI types and creation processes.
Findings
Three types of RMTI and three alternative RMTI creation processes are revealed and characterized. An integrated view is developed of the activities of the equipment supplier and the manufacturing firm, highlighting their different roles and interaction across the three RMTI creation process types.
Research limitations/implications
The exploratory design limits the depth of the analysis per RMTI project, and the focus is on manufacturing technology innovations in one country. The results extend previous case and context-specific findings on RMTI creation processes and provide novel frameworks for cross-case comparisons.
Practical implications
The manufacturing firms’ proactive role in RMTI creation is defined. A framework is proposed for using different RMTI creation processes for different types of RMTI.
Originality/value
This study addresses recent calls for empirical research on understanding the ways in which process innovations unfold in manufacturing firms. The findings emphasize the role of manufacturing firms as creators of RMTI in addition to their role as innovation adopters and implementers and reveal the suitability of different RMTI creation processes for different RMTI types.
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Kirsi Aaltonen and Virpi Turkulainen
The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the understanding of socialization in the context of temporary operations and organizational settings, using project alliance – the most…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the understanding of socialization in the context of temporary operations and organizational settings, using project alliance – the most contemporary approach to the management of large and complex projects – as an example. In particular, the paper also assesses how informal and formal socialization mechanisms are used to facilitate relational capital in such a setting.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected by two case studies of complex infrastructure projects in a Northern European city. The analysis focuses on how socialization is managed across organizational interfaces within the alliance organization during the project tendering and development phase to create relational capital.
Findings
The findings indicate that significant emphasis is put on socialization in project alliances. However, while in the tendering phase both informal and formal socialization mechanisms are used to create relational capital; in the development phase informal socialization mechanisms are associated with higher levels of relational capital and formal socialization mechanisms are used to maintain the level of relational capital.
Originality/value
While operations and supply chain management research argues that socialization is critical to manage organizational interfaces and to create relational capital in buyer-supplier relationships, research has mainly focused on ongoing operations. This study complements the prior research by developing further insight into socialization in the context of temporary operations and organizational settings; such settings create a unique empirical context, posing different managerial challenges as the results also indicate.
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Christopher Miller, Brychan Celfyn Thomas and Michael Roeller
This study attempts to create new insights into innovation management through the integration of innovation management processes and sustainable, iterative circles. Through the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study attempts to create new insights into innovation management through the integration of innovation management processes and sustainable, iterative circles. Through the exploration of the use of sustainable, iterative circles in a manufacturing environment, this paper explores their role in facilitating customer-focused innovation practices. Other supporting antecedences for innovative behavior are reviewed, and their combined effect upon delivering cost-effective product developments are assessed.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through semi-structured interviews in manufacturing organizations from the automotive industry. Interviews were conducted with senior functional managers to interpret the application of sustainable, iterative development circles. Analysis of the data was undertaken via thematic analysis based upon pertinent and emergent themes.
Findings
Sustainable, iterative development circles overcame the inherent path-dependency of traditional linear development approaches, whereas, traditional approaches structure the involvement of key business functions, iterative circles facilitate more flexible approaches to product development that more closely met the requirements of the customer, especially when those requirements are in a state of flux.
Practical implications
This iterative, customer-centric approach to product development reflects the increasingly dynamic market environments in which manufacturing organizations operate. Using this approach helps to focus the organization’s attention upon customer requirements rather than the challenges of adhering to the rigid dogma of a chosen development methodology.
Originality/value
This study proposes a new approach toward the development of innovations in manufacturing organizations utilizing the sustainable, iterative circles, and therefore, contrasts with the traditional, linear development methodologies that are usually employed.
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José Adalberto França, Nicolette Lakemond and Gunnar Holmberg
The purpose of this paper is to explore earlier stages of complex products and systems (CoPS) innovations, investigating how technology development can be coordinated.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore earlier stages of complex products and systems (CoPS) innovations, investigating how technology development can be coordinated.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a case study methodology, adopting an abductive logic, characterized by a nonlinear and iterative process of systematic confrontations between theoretical framework, empirical fieldwork and case analysis. Specifically, the authors study the Swedish aerospace network, which distinctly represents the CoPS characteristics of intense technology development with long-term goals and project-based activities with universities, research institutes, small medium enterprises and leading firms.
Findings
By adding the network perspective in the CoPS literature, the authors found that technology development can be coordinated within the technological and the business dimensions and according to different strategic nets. Also, the authors found that strategic nets co-evolve when their related projects are connected and advance in maturity, and their actors change their network position.
Originality/value
Current research on CoPS often recognizes that the survival and growth of a firm depend on its ability to coordinate innovative projects that are usually implemented during technology development. The findings contribute to this literature by showing how such projects can be implemented through agenda construction and the simultaneous coordination of strategic nets, leading to the synchronization of resources and activities. As such, this study’s framework offers a novel and integrative view of how the short-run and long-run strategies of leading firms can be aligned, and how other actors can contribute to the direction of the innovation path.
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Yeon-Hak Kim, Sun-Woong Park and Yeong-Wha Sawng
The purpose of this study is to develop an appropriate new product development (NPD) process of Company “T”, a medium-sized firm, by analyzing the existing NPD process and failure…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop an appropriate new product development (NPD) process of Company “T”, a medium-sized firm, by analyzing the existing NPD process and failure cases of the Company.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed research framework is as follows: first, prospective studies of the NPD process are performed using the existing literature and preliminary references; second, comparative analysis between the current processes and a NPD process is performed; third, phase-based evaluations upon failed product cases are conducted with a NPD process so as to identify the abridged steps and root-causes of failures; finally, renewed priorities are set forth by utilizing the analytic hierarchy process analysis and questionnaire analysis upon the above identified causes of failures.
Findings
The resulting accomplishments include the establishment of NPD processes that resonates with the current states of Company “T”, which, in turn, ensures the increase of efficiency, the decrease in development duration and the strategy of capacity-concentration and priority-selection.
Originality/value
As Company “T”’s development process is outdated and products are developed without adequate market information research and feasibility analysis, the percentage of failed development project is as high as 87 per cent. Thus, this study aims to develop an appropriate NPD process of Company “T” by analyzing the existing NPD process and failure cases of the Company.
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Yuan Hu, Wenxue Zheng, Weizhong Zeng and Hongxing Lan
Forestry carbon sink (FCS) is not only an important measure to deal with the current global climate change but also an effective way to build an ecological civilization. As an…
Abstract
Purpose
Forestry carbon sink (FCS) is not only an important measure to deal with the current global climate change but also an effective way to build an ecological civilization. As an important form of implementation of FCS, the afforestation and reforestation projects under the clean development mechanism (CDM A/R) have important functions such as ecological protection and economic growth. This paper aims to evaluate the short-term and long-term impact of CDM on the county economy and its impact mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper first uses propensity score matching to match the county (treatment group). Second, this paper uses difference in difference to estimate the net effect of CDM A/R project on county economic development to reduce estimation error. Finally, the impact mechanism of implementing CDM A/R project on county economic development was tested.
Findings
The CDM A/R project has significantly promoted the development of real gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita real GDP in the region. Because of the long project cycle, this promotion is not immediate in the short term and has an obvious hysteresis effect. The longer the implementation time, the greater the promotion of the local economy will develop. The results are robust after the robustness test that uses the single-difference method. The CDM A/R project has promoted local economic growth by optimizing the local industrial structure, increasing the regional capital stock and raising the regional government’s fiscal revenue and expenditure.
Originality/value
This paper provides a critical overview of the relationship between clean development mechanism and local economic development.
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