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To date, it remains unclear whether the experiences of large corporations with regard to knowledge transfer and process formalization can be successfully replicated in small companies. In this paper, the authors seek to contribute to the specialized literature on internal knowledge transfer processes and their degree of formalization in the context of small-sized innovative firms.

The authors adopt a multiple case study approach to perform an in-depth comparative analysis of processes deployed to transfer knowledge internally and their degree of formalization, relying on rich narratives shared by informants during the data gathering stage. This sample is composed of five small innovators operating in the software industry in Quebec and Ontario.

The authors identify seven knowledge transfer processes in our sample, namely communities of practice, within project teams, across project teams, non-project related meetings, in-house exchanges with clients, technological devices, and playful activities. Uncovering a high cross-case variation in terms of process formalization, the findings imply that the degree of formalization of intra-firm knowledge transfer processes has no direct bearing on the innovative success of small software companies.

The study sheds new light on the topic of heterogeneity of small organizations from the perspective of knowledge transfer endeavors and provides empirical evidence in support of equifinality for a subset of small-sized innovators from the software sector.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain how different kinds of knowledge-intensive business service processes (KIBS processes) can be formalised without excessively limiting employees’ agency, and thus flexibility in value creation. Previous research acknowledges the need to balance flexibility and formalisation but does not investigate how employees achieve this balance in various types of KIBS processes.

This paper employs a qualitative multiple-case study approach to compare employees’ agency in six successful formalisation projects targeting different types of KIBS processes in three firms. Through a systematic mapping of employees’ agency across the cases, this study reveals alternative patterns of formalisation that enable agency.

The findings reveal notable differences in employees’ agency in the studied cases. When KIBS processes were scale intensive and/or the culture-favoured conformity, formalisation projects were centrally organised, and employees obeyed codified process templates, even though some agency remained. When KIBS processes were smaller scale and/or the culture-favoured freedom, employees conducted formalisation projects autonomously and retained higher levels of agency in formalised KIBS processes.

Firms and business units providing KIBS should choose their formalisation approaches locally based on the scalability of the KIBS process, their employees’ skill levels, knowledge bases and culture. Choosing the right approach enables flexibility while striving for efficient processes.

Previous studies suggest that formalisation benefits only some KIBS, but this comparative approach shows that a variety of KIBS processes benefit from formalisation if the formalisation approach is tailored to the context. Alternative patterns of formalisation are revealed to guide further empirical research on the topic.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the degree to which employees’ proactive behavior contributes to innovation performance in firms operating in high-technology sectors. Despite the benefits of these behaviors for individuals and organizations, few studies have analyzed the contextual conditions that enable firms to capture their value in order to improve innovation performance. Drawing on the interactionist perspective, the authors also examine the extent to which informal and formal controls, such as perceived support for innovation and innovation process formalization, can facilitate the contribution of proactive behaviors to improve innovation performance (product and process innovation).

Based on an empirical study with a sample of 173 firms operating in chemical and information technology service sectors, hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the relationship between employees’ proactive behavior and innovation performance, and the moderating effects of informal and formal controls.

The results reveal a positive and significant association between proactive behaviors and product and process innovation performance. Both control mechanisms positively moderate the association between proactive behavior and product innovation, but no moderating role was found for process innovation. Moreover, rather than inhibiting innovation performance, innovation process formalization is positively associated with innovation. More specifically, a curvilinear relationship was found, which implies that when the level of formalization is high, it is able to improve product and process innovation.

The findings suggest that managers should consider proactive behavior in selection processes and performance management, and should cultivate a climate to support innovation and establish formal controls for innovation as a way to channel employees’ initiatives into product innovation.

This study contributes to the theoretical and managerial understanding of the extent to which proactive employees and organizational controls are able to enhance innovation in a technologically dynamic context.

Suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers alike are still considering reverse logistics (RL) to be the “necessary evil” in their day‐to‐day operations rather than an opportunity for future performance. At the same time, a well‐structured RL program can create a substantial value‐added and positively affect the bottom‐line. Based on in‐depth investigation of best‐in‐class RL programs implemented in practice, the purpose of this paper is to offer a grounded flow charting approach for assessing the state of program development and, potentially, identifying areas for improvement across different companies in various industries.

The current study utilizes rich qualitative research methodology based on the combination between a thorough review of existing literature and multiple field studies. The findings from existing research, semi‐structured interviews and observation at companies’ sites, and RL‐related documentation at those companies, provide the backbone for the development of the assessment tool.

Although substantial variations exist in the way companies are setting up their RL programs, some common processes prevail. Formalizing these processes and related activities becomes the differentiating factor in RL program development and implementation. In addition, providing structure to the RL effort helps companies to strategically control the related value‐added.

The paper introduces process formalization as a necessary condition for the development and implementation of RL programs. The grounded flow charting approach, based on a qualitative inquiry in real business situations, aims to bridge the gap between theoretical developments and practical guidance for best‐in‐class RL operations.

The formalization of a company is a process that requires compliance with standards established by government institutions. In developing countries, many businesses start this process, but do not finish it, with different levels of formality. The objective of this research is to analyze how the perception of entrepreneurs about bureaucratic procedures and the sector determine the level of formality regarding an established company that has taken the first step to formality.

The National Survey of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) is used with a sample of 4,619 Peruvian MSEs with more than three years of operation within the manufacturing and services sector. The data are analyzed with the ordered logistic regression technique.

The results show that the more favorable the perception of entrepreneurs about the ease of bureaucratic procedures, the higher the level of business formality; and companies in the manufacturing sector are less formal than those in the services sector. In addition, the perceptions of entrepreneurs positively moderate the level of formality in the case of companies in the manufacturing sector.

Levels of formality in established companies are analyzed, defined by the compliance degree with the requirements to be a formal company. The literature on business informality in emerging countries is expanded, particularly in Latin America, incorporating the analysis of the formalization process.

La formalización de una empresa es un proceso que exige el cumplimiento de normas establecidas por las instituciones de gobierno. En países en desarrollo, muchas empresas empiezan este proceso, pero no lo terminan, existiendo diferentes niveles de formalidad. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar cómo la percepción de los empresarios sobre los trámites burocráticos y el sector determina el nivel de formalidad de una empresa establecida que ha dado el primer paso hacia la formalidad.

Se utiliza la Encuesta Nacional de la Micro y Pequeña Empresa con una muestra de 4.619 micro y pequeñas empresas peruanas de los sectores de manufactura y servicios con más de tres años de operación. Los datos son analizados con la técnica de regresión logística ordenada.

Los resultados muestran que cuanto más favorable es la percepción de los empresarios sobre la facilidad de los trámites burocráticos mayor es el nivel de formalidad empresarial, y las empresas del sector manufactura son menos formales que las del sector servicios. Además, las percepciones de los empresarios moderan positivamente en el nivel de formalidad para el caso de las empresas del sector manufactura.

Se analizan niveles de formalidad en empresas establecidas, definidas por el grado de cumplimiento de las exigencias para ser una empresa formal. Se amplía la literatura sobre informalidad empresarial en países emergentes, particularmente en América Latina, incorporando el análisis del proceso de formalización.

Over the last decades, horizontal cooperations between logistics service providers (LSPs) have become a well-established organizational form and their use is expected to grow even further in the future. In spite of this increasing importance of horizontal LSP cooperations, little research has been done to reveal how to govern these relationships successfully. Particularly, the role of contractual governance and its interplay with operational governance mechanisms remain to be investigated. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This research analyzes the influence of contractual governance on the effectiveness of two types of operational governance (a formal and a relational type). It relates contractual governance and operational governance to two major outcome dimensions of horizontal cooperations between LSPs (cooperation-based firm performance and cooperation-based learning) and uses multivariate statistical methods.

The results reveal that contractual safeguarding is able to partly replace process formalization when aiming for better cooperation-based firm performance and complement process formalization when aiming for cooperation-based learning. At the same time, relational capital is always complemented by contractual safeguarding independently from the desired cooperation outcome.

This is the first study analyzing the role of contractual safeguarding in horizontal cooperations between LSPs. It shows its interplay with operational governance mechanisms, and, thereby, not only considers a relational type of operational governance, but also a formal type.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the issue of “formalization” in business networks as an instrument of industrial policy. Formalization in business networks is not a debated topic but it can affect organizational and inter-organizational dynamics considerably. The aim of the paper is to understand if the introduction of a normative tool that enhances formalized networks can be effective to promote network aggregations among SMEs. Second, the aim is to understand if this formalization supports good-working networks, i.e., capable to introduce new products or to enter new markets/customers.

The paper refers to a review of the literature and mainly to an empirical research on formalized network contracts (NCs) that have been conducted in the latest two years. This research has used both secondary data, collected accessing to databases and reports given by institutions and the government, and primary data, collected in specific direct interviews. These interviews have been concerned both institutions such as Chamber of Commerce, Confindustria and the Ministry of Economic Development and the Small Business Association, and 15 cases of NCs in Italy.

The formalization has consequences both internally and externally to the NC. Internally it can act as an element to reduce ambiguity and building elements of “fragile trust,” in the absence of basic elements of “resilient trust” and in the presence of changes in the competitive environment. Externally, the formalization through the NC allows the policy maker to identify more clearly companies’ aggregations in order to let them being destination of specific industrial policies. However even if the formalization has in some cases enhanced new networks’ creation, in many cases formalization has generated positive results when companies had already experienced networking outside the frame of the NC.

Further research on formalization in networks should be developed following the “history” of formalized networks over time in order to understand how much formalization should be used as a long-term tool for industrial policy.

The paper can be useful both for companies that want to sign a NC and for the institutions developing industrial policies devoted to support companies’ aggregations in the form of NC.

The paper presents a new legal tool – the “NC” – introduced in 2009 by the Italian Government to enhance firms’ aggregation; second, the paper debates the topic of formalization in networks that is not much debated in literature; and finally, the paper also adopts an industrial economic approach and is among the few attempts to integrate industrial policies and industrial marketing and purchasing thinking.

The many studies into the relationships between formalization and innovation have produced little but inconsistent findings. The conceptual and operational definition of the formalization construct is proposed to be one of the reasons for these inconsistencies. It is argued that aggregate (organization‐level) measurements of formalization are inappropriate and should be replaced with department‐specific or process‐specific measurements. Second, it is argued that formalization has been defined in an inconsistent way. However, it is not just the coexistence of different definitions (and their measurements) that is problematic. The exclusion, or improper inclusion, of rule observation from the conceptualization of formalization appears to be a third fallacy. A revised definition of formalization is advanced as a solution to these problems. This definition may prove to be instrumental in determining the true effect of formalization on organizational innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between manufacturing strategy formalization and manufacturing strategy implementation, considering the potential moderating role of shop-floor communication.

Multiple linear regression models considering main and interaction effects of strategy formulation and shop-floor communication on strategy implementation were performed using data from the fourth round of the international HPM Project. This includes plants with more than 100 employees in the automotive, machinery and electronics industries from 10 different countries. Unlike other research studies, this research takes into account plant management’s and plant supervisors’ perceptions.

The findings show that formal strategic planning positively influences manufacturing strategy implementation. Furthermore, both feedback and instructive communication practices moderate the manufacturing strategy process, resulting in successful manufacturing strategy embeddedness, and prompt adaptation to change.

This study provides a better understanding of the manufacturing strategy process for scholars and practitioners. In addition, the results suggest that the adoption of some shop-floor communication practices can benefit firms through the strengthening of strategy implementation.

This paper provides empirical evidence to the emerging discussion on whether formal strategic planning helps to adopt a strategy or on the contrary make decision making inflexible.

Immigrant integration through entrepreneurship is hindered by the prevalent informality of their ventures. This study aims to examine the factors influencing the formalisation of immigrant entrepreneurship, with special focus on those who are under the impact of the host country.

The study is based on a series of focus groups conducted among a total of 59 Ukrainian immigrants in Poland. Based on coding into first-order categories, second-order themes and aggregate dimensions, the authors created a model of immigrant entrepreneurship formalisation.

The results of the research included in the model show the groups of factors influencing the formalisation of immigrant entrepreneurship. Immigrants bring both their personal attitudes and embeddedness in their country of origin during immigration. Then, factors of the host country’s institutions, interactions between local authorities and local communities and the need for a new place of belonging interact in the formalisation process. Formal entrepreneurs, as a new identity for immigrants, are the result of the formalisation process.

The results not only focus on social capital or the institutional failures of formal and informal institutions in transforming immigrants into formal entrepreneurs, but we also recognise the individual aspect of the new identity as formal entrepreneurs and a new place of belonging. In addition, the authors distinguish the importance and interactions between local communities and local authorities in this process. The paper contributes to the theory of entrepreneurship, migrant study and institutional theory.