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Ambidexterity in teams represents powerful dynamic capabilities for innovation and adaptation in rapidly changing environments. This study focused on the emerging concept of team ambidexterity. Primary purposes were to consolidate emerging research on ambidexterity within teams and to synthesise antecedent inputs.

This study applied a systematic content-based review method to collect articles relevant to enabling ambidexterity within teams. The study integrated relevant studies on ambidexterity and on teams and teamwork. It analysed content through theoretical frameworks of ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities.

Team ambidexterity constitutes a distinct and increasingly important organisational concept beyond just supporting firm-level ambidexterity. Team ambidexterity depends on inputs that can include ambidexterity's multilevel, generic mechanisms and additional team-centric inputs specially characterising teams.

Organisational leaders need insights into the valuable potential of ambidextrous teams that can increase innovation and enable successful adaptation at an operational level for longterm survival and competitive advantage in volatile environments. The study highlights the essential inputs for designing and equipping ambidextrous teams.

Team ambidexterity research is growing, but so far it has mostly addressed team ambidexterity as a microfoundation supporting firm-level ambidexterity. Existing studies have remained mostly disparate and unorganized. This study appears unique in having identified and synthesised studies most relevant to developing ambidexterity within teams. The study articulated a more comprehensive understanding of team ambidexterity, derived a novel set of team-centric inputs and analysed ambidexterity as dynamic capabilities at operational unit level.

The rapid growth of emerging market firms (EMFs) has been a topic of interest for the past two decades, especially in China. However, few studies have discussed how and why EMFs can impel the upgrading of their capabilities to quickly win competitive advantages in the global market. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to unravel the implausible upgrading phenomenon from the perspective of technological proximity.

This paper adopts a single case study, specifically that of a leading Chinese e-bike firm, with a special focus on the dynamic nature of the capability upgrading process and underlying mechanisms.

The results show that taking advantage of technological proximity is an important way for EMFs to climb the ladder of capability upgrading. The stage-based process reveals how capability upgrading is achieved through elaborate actions related to technological proximity. Furthermore, this study finds three learning mechanisms behind the technological proximity, which enable firms to successfully upgrade to higher levels of capabilities. In particular, the trigger role played by contextual conditions in guiding firms' capability upgrading is highlighted and characterized.

This study enriches traditional capability upgrading literature from a technological proximity perspective, especially the traditional static upgrading research related to EMFs. The authors also contribute to the conceptualization of technological proximity. However, the research setting is China's e-bike industry; therefore, the study's generalizability to other emerging markets and industries may be limited.

The results show that it is important to recognize the value of the transfer and sharing of technology between proximal industries for local governments. Also, appropriate policies should be developed to break down the technology barriers between these industries. Moreover, rather than catching up with the superior technologies of multinational corporations in advanced countries, focusing on products with high technological proximity in local or regional areas may be more helpful for EMFs' upgrading.

This paper investigates the capability upgrading process and mechanisms in EMFs, particularly with respect to the role played by technological proximity.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of volume flexible strategies on organizational performance in academic medical centers (AMCs). Volume flexible strategies represent a variety of methods where organizations use their portfolio of resources and capabilities to meet fluctuating customer demand while improving organizational performance.

A path model is developed and tested based on a survey of AMCs in the USA as listed in the American hospital directory.

The results indicate that desired levels of volume flexibility have a positive impact on organizational capabilities that in turn, positively influence how internal sources of volume flexibility are leveraged. In addition, volume flexible capability and the use of internal strategies were found to have a positive influence on customer‐related performance that in turn, positively impacts financial and market share performance.

This research was exploratory in nature and limited to a sample of AMCs. To improve the generalizability of these results, future studies should evaluate these constructs using a larger sample of health care organizations.

The deployment and use of volume flexible strategies is germane to any health care organization's strategy and performance. This study offers some guidance to administrators who need both a clear understanding of the underlying tradeoffs involved in deploying these strategies and a prescriptive model to help guide their use.

This work answers the recent calls for more empirical research in general, and specifically, for more operations strategy research on flexibility in service industries. It should assist future researchers who focus on flexibility in health care services and would also be of interest to practitioners interested in keeping up with academic literature.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of past experience in managing risk and technical innovation in NASA space programs with lessons learned for new unmanned space missions.

The paper examines past performance of space missions and abstracts the lessons learned for the efficient development of cost‐effective space missions.

The paper finds that large organizations build and internalize a culture at odds with risk taking and the rapid deployment of innovative solutions. Actualized management goals are often at odds with the issues that determine or insure the long‐term survival of an organization. A key issue is the management of knowledge within that system: the extrinsic knowledge of the technologies as well as the intrinsic knowledge associated with the perception and acceptance of risk.

Innovation can be seen as being dangerous to the organization. That perception must be managed. The NASA culture that is applicable to human spaceflight may not serve the community or the organization as well when applied to unmanned missions.

The paper provides a simplified and brief perspective on the issues inherent in managing a change in culture in an organization that has a highly public mission.

While the NASA “faster, better, cheaper” program has been considered elsewhere, this paper focuses on the lessons that are applicable to the management of space missions and the development of new, cost‐effective programs. These lessons retain their value, as the new administrator Michael D. Griffin attempts to manage the transition of NASA from an organization that has been in maintenance mode to one that must embrace innovation and stay within a highly constrained funding profile.

This paper reviews the literature on the business models of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It seeks to examine the profile, conceptual and intellectual structure of the literature whilst leveraging the findings to suggest promising future paths to advance our knowledge on business models of SMEs.

The study resorts to a systematic literature review that conducts descriptive, bibliometric (i.e. co-word occurrence analysis and bibliographic coupling of documents analysis) and content analyses to review the literature on business models of SMEs. The research protocol included 301 articles collected in the Web of Science (WoS) database in the descriptive and bibliometric analyses. The bibliometric analysis was performed using the VOSviewer software.

The descriptive analysis portrayed the profile of this research stream. The systematisation of the co-word occurrence analysis describes the four clusters that comprise the conceptual structure of this research field. The content analysis of the bibliographic coupling of documents’ clusters portrays the seven clusters that involve the intellectual structure of this research area.

The integrated and holistic approach adopted in this study provides a detailed overview of the literature on business models of SMEs. We propose an integrative framework for the literature that bridges the main themes that form the conceptual and intellectual structure of this field of research. A comprehensive agenda for future research is suggested and implications for theory, policy and practice are stated.

Information technology (IT), combined with complementary resources, can contribute to companies' competitive positioning. However, to assess the contribution of IT to value with respect to the contribution of complementary resources, it is crucial to understand the means by which IT creates value.

This paper synthesizes empirical research on the inherent capabilities of IT and their moderating role to build an integrative model.

We found that IT creates value through three inherent capabilities: transactional, exchange and codification capabilities. These capabilities can be regarded as moderators of the relationship between IT and competitive advantage. This moderating role of IT in competitive positioning is illustrated by examples from previous empirical publications.

The paper contributes to IT business value (ITBV) literature by developing an integrative model that (1) conceptualizes an aspect of IT value creation, which, thus far, has received only limited attention (namely, inherent capabilities) and (2) illustrates the moderating role of these capabilities in competitive positioning.

Inherent capabilities provide the theoretical foundation for a nuanced understanding of IT contribution with respect to complementary resources. This understanding may support IT executives in deriving adequate measurements and, thus, account for the differential effects of IT.

Compared to the literature, the proposed model represents a more coherent and holistic perspective of ITBV. Thus, the model may constitute a foundation for future ITBV research and promote more detailed analytic perspectives of ITBV.

Process capability indices as an important kind of indices are intended to provide single‐number assessments of the inherent process capability to meet specification limits on quality characteristic(s) of interest. In this paper the condition for the application of process capability indices is analyzed. On the basis of process capability indices, dynamic process capability indices as a new kind of indices to show the current process capability are discussed and the condition for the application of dynamic process capability indices is exhibited. Comparison between process capability index and dynamic process capability index and comparison between D_p and D_pk are made and the conclusions provide the approach for process control. According to the requirement of process capability indices provided by customer, quality control based on process capability indices dynamic process capability indices is ciscussed.

This research explores perceptions of knowledge management processes held by managers and employees in a service industry. To date, empirical research on knowledge management in the service industry is sparse. This research seeks to examine absorptive capacity and its four capabilities of acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation and their impact on effective knowledge management. All of these capabilities are strategies that enable external knowledge to be recognized, imported and integrated into, and further developed within the organization effectively. The research tests the relationships between absorptive capacity and effective knowledge management through analysis of quantitative data (n = 549) drawn from managers and employees in 35 residential aged care organizations in Western Australia. Responses were analysed using Partial Least Square-based Structural Equation Modelling. Additional analysis was conducted to assess if the job role (of manager or employee) and three industry context variables of profit motive, size of business and length of time the organization has been in business, impacted on the hypothesized relationships.

Structural model analysis examines the relationships between variables as hypothesized in the research framework. Analysis found that absorptive capacity and the four capabilities correlated significantly with effective knowledge management, with absorptive capacity explaining 56% of the total variability for effective knowledge management. Findings from this research also show that absorptive capacity and the four capabilities provide a useful framework for examining knowledge management in the service industry. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the perceptions held between managers and employees, nor between respondents in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Furthermore, the size of the organization and length of time the organization has been in business did not impact on absorptive capacity, the four capabilities and effective knowledge management.

The research considers implications for business in light of these findings. The role of managers in providing leadership across the knowledge management process was confirmed, as well as the importance of guiding routines and knowledge sharing throughout the organization. Further, the results indicate that within the participating organizations there are discernible differences in the way that some organizations manage their knowledge, compared to others. To achieve effective knowledge management, managers need to provide a supportive workplace culture, facilitate strong employee relationships, encourage employees to seek out new knowledge, continually engage in two-way communication with employees and provide up-to-date policies and procedures that guide employees in doing their work. The implementation of knowledge management strategies has also been shown in this research to enhance the delivery and quality of residential aged care.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to connect strategic agility and business model (BM) innovation, and to explore how capabilities underlying strategic agility fit the SME context.

Qualitative in approach, the paper develops a longitudinal, in-depth, single case study focussing on how BM renewal occurs in the dynamic and increasingly important sector of temporary work agencies.

The findings suggest a partial fit of the existing strategic agility framework for SMEs. Two of the proposed meta-capabilities (leadership unity and resource fluidity) seem inherent to SMEs because they apply easily to this context, although they need to be downscaled. One meta-capability (strategic sensitivity) is less natural and therefore more critical for an SME. An additional meta-capability (resourcefulness) arises as very important for SMEs to be able to overcome some of their size-caused limitations.

The contribution is limited by using a single case study from a specific sector and should be considered as exploratory and theory-grounding research in the field of SMEs’ strategic agility and BM renewal.

The originality of this paper is that it looks at the SME context in an industry with intensive change and dynamism, which is ideal for illustrating the objective. The authors contribute a model of strategic agility for SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework which connects theory with straightforward application of statistical process control (SPC) in discovering and analyzing causes of variation to eliminate quality problems, which not only helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to improve their processes but also helps to attain competitive positioning.

Based on theory and methodological framework, an experimental study has been presented. Use of histograms, X (bar) and R control charts and process capability plots and cause-and-effect diagrams have been made to analyse the assignable causes. A case from an SME engaged in machining of automotive parts is investigated.

The results demonstrate the effectiveness of SPC in evaluating and eliminating quality problems. The machine capability (C_P) and the process capability (C_Pk) values are also obtained to know inherent variation in the process. If these quality tools are applied with management support and apt knowledge, attained through proper training and motivation, then in this cut-throat competitive world, SMEs can establish their market position by enhancing the quality and productivity of their products/processes.

From the study, the authors conclude that application of SPC requires thorough preparation, management commitment and human resource management through proper training, teamwork and motivation embedded with a sound measurement and control system.

The present study bridges the gap between theory and practice by developing a conceptual framework and providing a practical support by illustrating a case from an SME engaged in machining of automotive parts.