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Offer a new model for identifying effective approaches to gathering, understanding and synthesizing information related to new product needs of B2B customers.

Arthur D. Little, together with the Eindhoven University of Technology, conducted in-depth interviews with over 30 product development leaders in 15 companies across multiple sectors.

When the team interacting with customers is structured appropriately the research showed that “getting it right” can lead to doubling of innovation success rates and have significant impact on R&D effectiveness.

By identifying the degree to which B2B customer needs are clear (expressed) or unclear (latent) and the degree to which technology needs are known (expressed) or unclear (latent), we can start to characterize the most appropriate skill set that a multifunctional product development team will need in order to develop a winning product.

Companies can use an innovative analysis framework to help make informed decisions about how best to organize their teams. The four approaches can be mapped to the four quadrants of a “Customer Needs/Technology Needs” matrix. The study concludes that the benefits are both strategically and financially significant.

Discusses the ways in which the express delivery industry has addressed the problems of data management through increasingly sophisticated automation. Describes the stages of computerization through which a company must go to achieve complete service and system integration. Proposes that without information technology express operators would not be able to give acceptable levels of service. Finds that in this highly competitive market IT has helped operators to reduce costs and improve services.

The paper's purposes are to establish organizational learning theory as evolving from the theoretical and empirical study of organizations and to build grounded theory explaining organizational learning in schools.

Implementation of instructional technology as a process of organizational learning was explored at an elementary school. Findings from qualitative data revealed determinants of organization learning discussed as grounded theory, building on the relationship between social psychology and structural systemic aspects of organizational theory.

Five elements influenced organizational learning: priority of the learning in the organization, consistency and breadth of information distribution, unpredictability or uncertainty, the ease of learning new routines (how to) and the difficulty of learning new conceptual frameworks (why).

Assessing the type of change (routine or conceptual) and the adequacy of information distribution can predict the ease of organizational change. Identifying existing beliefs or procedures that impede new learning can explain lack of progression, and prioritizing the learning through both words and action can facilitate the process.

The paper develops organizational learning theory in schools as contextual indicators and conditions with theoretical roots in the structural technical and social cognitive study of organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a new institutional perspective of knowledge Management technology adoption through an empirical study of a knowledge intensive firm.

The research involved collection of qualitative data about knowledge management practices. The analysis was carried out over a six month period by means of ethnographic research and a series of interviews. It focused mainly on the personnel involved in Knowledge Management initiatives within two information technology units of a telecommunication firm.

This article proposes a new institutional perspective of knowledge management as an alternative of the instrumental point of view. The authors argue that knowledge management initiatives are better understood if considered as rational myths instead of rational choices.

The paper has some limitations. First, the research is based on a single case study; secondly, the authors acknowledge the difficulty in having full access to decision‐making rooms or corridors “of power” where institutional pressure is exerted. To improve the theoretical framework and the methodological approach, both qualitative and quantitative analyses are recommended.

Why do organizations, even in the face of the poor results produced by knowledge management initiatives, continue to invest financial and organizational resources in knowledge management related technologies? This article proposes that this apparently irrational behaviour can be explained when evaluating knowledge management initiatives, rather than in their instrumental value, as symbolic means to legitimate the organization in an environment where the management of knowledge is said to be a core feature of modern organizations.

The purpose of this article is to illustrate how the characteristics of complex product systems pose specific managerial challenges onto the transfer of new technology from technology development to product development.

The research relies on comparative case studies involving three cases of internal technology transfer processes in the development of electrical equipment and telecommunication systems.

The research findings suggest that managerial decisions on internal technology transfer should be guided by a contingency framework rather than general procedures and tools.

Since the research is restricted to a limited number of case studies, additional studies are required to validate the findings.

The study results indicate that in cases of complex product development, there is a need for a more integrated view on technology and product development, than what is commonly described in the literature.

This article complements previous studies of the management of internal technology transfer processes, which primarily have addressed mass producing industries.

e‐Learning has been frequently heralded as a transforming influence on global education and corporate training. Despite such rhetoric, the adoption, diffusion and exploitation of e‐Learning by educational institutions and organizations have been slower than anticipated. In this paper we attempt to examine the future of e‐learning by adopting a scenario planning approach, which formed the basis of a recent major international conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland in February 2004. We set out the background of the study, the methodology used to investigate the future(s) of e‐learning and reflect on the process and outcomes of the exercise to provide some assistance for practitioners in the field. Our general conclusions are that the scenarios have been a valuable starting point to engage in a more informed discussion of how e‐learning may transform education and training markets and the ways in which people learn over the next decade.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This study aims to present the path-to-purchase of omni micro-resellers in affordable fashion shopping centers and differentiates them from the existing knowledge of end-user’s purchase journey. Furthermore, the study aims to explore the omnichannel readiness for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) merchants to provide a seamless experience for the micro-resellers.

This study adopted an ethnographic approach to gain deep insights into the unexplored omni journey of micro-resellers, using multiple techniques and respondent types in various locations.

Findings reveal that the journey of omni micro-reseller is not the same as the end-user's purchase journey. The new value needed in every path-to-purchase is an essential knowledge that helps MSE merchants in serving micro-resellers. MSE merchants' readiness is assessed by their ability to provide the best customer experience for their buyers, consisting of six omnichannel experience dimensions: researching, purchase-payment, shipping, omnichannel testing, return goods experience and relationship building.

Using the Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) decision-making model, this study develops the path-to-purchase of omnichannel micro-resellers. The new readiness dimensions developed in this study are set as a potential measurement tool.

It provides new insights to benefit MSE merchants and the institutions responsible for enhancing merchant quality.

This study focuses on micro-resellers in the MSEs environment, the prominent buyers of affordable fashion in developing countries, which is a novelty of the study. Moreover, unlike previous studies that have focused on large and medium merchants, this study concentrates on MSE merchants. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies to highlight ways to measure MSE merchants omnichannel readiness.

Aims to provide a model of technology strategy, which shows how firms can strategically plan for and adopt new information technology. The critical issue in managing technology strategy is to assess the role which it can play in enhancing the firm′s competitive position through improving its value activities, which can provide sustainable competitive advantage to the adopting firm and its business partners. Utilizes the competitive strategy paradigm of technology strategy to explore the strategic impact of electronic data interchange (EDI) technology using the global air express industry as an example. This industry provides an appropriate example for applying the paradigm because firms competing in global markets must successfully address many of those problems which are facing global air express firms. Other industries can learn from the experience of air express firms′ use of technology to improve their competitive performance.