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The purpose of the paper is to develop alternative paths to the transition process as a result of alternative models of transition.

A political economy methodology to the transition process results in alternative transition models. As a result five alternative models of transition come into being.

Transition models can be distinguished on the basis of economic analysis, speed and the political structure. Each model recommended a set of economic policies to facilitate the transition process. The adoption of gradualist processes of transition – except in the case of shock therapy – requires a sequence by which the reforms should be introduced.

The paper contributes to the transition literature by developing a set of economic policies combined with a sequence path for each transition model.

Multimaterial components possess material boundaries that introduce potential points of failure. Graded material transitions can help mitigate the impact of these abrupt property changes. This approach is becoming increasingly accessible through three-dimensional (3D) printing, but it has yet to be extensively studied for rapid prototyping processes that are limited in resolution or number of material types. This study aims to investigate methods for applying graded transitions when using manufacturing processes with these limitations.

This study introduces a series of transition types that have graded properties and are produced using a finite number of discrete materials. This study presents a workflow for generating, fabricating and testing these transition types. This study uses this workflow with two different manufacturing processes to characterize the impact of each transition type on the ultimate tensile strength of a component.

Graded transitions can improve the performance of a component if the proper transition type is used. For high-fidelity processes, the best performing transitions are those closest to a true gradient. For low-fidelity processes, the best performing transitions are those which provide a balance of graded properties and mechanical connection.

The presented performance trends are specific to the studied processes and materials. Future work using different fabrication parameters can use the presented workflow to assess process-specific trends.

This work comprehensively compares different methods of creating graded transitions using discrete materials, including several novel approaches. It also provides a new design workflow that allows the design of graded transitions to be easily integrated into a 3D printing workflow.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and understand challenges related to transition processes that occur between projects and the permanent organisation, as well as the outcome of such processes.

The study is based on an explorative, in‐depth case study of a multi‐project setting. The concept phase of three projects was followed by participative observations and ongoing interviews over a 15‐week period at two sites and in two countries. The empirical material was analyzed through a process‐oriented approach focusing on daily project activities.

Transition processes are characterized by containing operational complexities. These operational complexities demand project stakeholders to perform multiple translational and transformative activities. The outcomes from these activities are, for example, strategic, operational, and functional fine‐tuning, but also attitudinal turnaround.

This research is based on an interorganizational vehicle platform project setting. Therefore, the findings from this study cannot easily be generalized to other settings. However, it is likely that actors in other interorganizational project settings can benefit from the finding, since there probably are a multitude of transition processes in such projects as well.

Managers can learn that it is important to map all related transition processes, analyze the implications that these processes have on the project, and perform a dialog with project members so that the sense of operational complexity and uncertainty can be reduced. This type of action will reduce feelings of frustration and create a sense of readiness to deal with unexpected events.

The paper's value is two‐fold. First, the setting “an interorganizational vehicle platform” is largely under studied; and second, the paper pinpoints three unique transition processes and thereby contributes to the sparsely researched area of transition processes.

This paper attempts to provide a better understanding of behavioral processes and their impact on the transition from products to services.

Case studies are the main tool of theory development. The paper focuses mainly on German and Swiss product manufacturers, whose products require a high level of customer investment.

The objective was merely to explain behavioral dimension of transition. The paper indicated seven behavioral processes which play a critical role during the transition. Managerial service awareness and role understanding, as well as employee service awareness and role understanding seem to be the right triggers to change the behavioral processes in the desired manner.

The main focus was on the German and Swiss machinery and medical equipment manufacturing industries, and the remarks are limited to these sectors.

The key managerial implications and recommendations can be formulated as follows: establish a “value‐added” managerial service awareness; change managerial role understanding – from traditional customer support to business manager; establish a “value‐added” employee service awareness; and change employee role understanding – from selling products to providing services.

The authors were able to add a complementary perspective to existing literature on the transition process from products to services. For service management theorists, it is suggested that the transition from product manufacturers into service providers is influenced strongly by several behavioral processes. A complete theory of the transition process requires an interdisciplinary theory that integrates service management and human decision making.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive review of empirical research on performance management (PM) in former communist Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, to evaluate the state of knowledge in this area and suggest possible directions for future research.

An examination of the literature was undertaken to review the empirical studies treating on PM in ex-communist countries from CEE. A total of 96 journal articles, PhD thesis, and conference papers were identified, categorized, and analyzed according to research questions, methodology, and theoretical framework. Contributions are classified by countries, according to progress in transition process (post-transition/transition countries) and membership in the Soviet Union (Soviet/non-Soviet countries). The review examines publications in four languages (English, French, Romanian, and Russian).

The literature review identified various stages of development of PM research and practice in the different groups of CEE countries.

In post-transition CEE countries, PM research follows the trends settled up in the developed countries (quantitative studies examining the extent of usage of different PM tools, influence of contingent factors, relationship PM-strategy, and impact on company’s performance). Also, the findings illustrate the modernization of PM practices: increasing importance of nonfinancial indicators and integrated performance management systems (PMS), although financial indicators are prevailing.

On the contrary, in transition countries PM research and practices are at an early stage, the reviewed literature highlights some specific issues related to transition context: the dynamic aspect of PM, change management, importance of informal systems, cultural aspects, and business traditions.

Because of the large number of CEE countries and the diversity of their national languages, many studies conducted in native languages have not been addressed in this literature review, which is essentially based on publications in English and French. Only for three CEE countries (Russia, Romania, and Moldova) publications in national language were considered.

This literature review may be useful for practitioners, providing insights on the extent of diffusion and usage of different PM tools and identifying difficulties and pitfalls to avoid in their implementation.

The chapter represents one of the first contributions to the knowledge about PM research and practice in former communist CEE countries. The adopted framework for reviewing and classifying the literature allows identifying the differences in PM research and practices between post-transition/transition and Soviet/non-Soviet countries.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The paper proposes an innovative systemic method helping decision-makers to control servitization transition process, through decision process risk diagnosis.

The proposed method is based on the modeling of decision processes and risk identification and analysis. This method was based on an action-research approach, in close relationship with two companies (SMEs). The paper develops the feasibility experiment at Automelec company.

The method was successfully implemented and delivered concrete diagnosis results.

The generalization of the applicability of the method needs to be tested on several different cases.

The first practical implication is related to the efficiency of the method to help decision-makers in a servitization context to limit uncertainty and get a global view of the weaknesses of their decision-making process, it raises their awareness about servitization transition for their companies. Furthermore, the method also helps to explain the strategy of a servitization transition. It enhances the level of maturity of the decision process of the company, and can be used as a training/learning tool for managers.

The results brought by the research contribute to give the decision-making boards for organization living a servitization transition and especially SMEs a better control over the servitization decision process and related risks, which will increase the economic stability of the company and its vision over long, medium and short horizons. This will bring positive impact on the overall economic and social environment and networks of the servitized SME, and enhance the confidence of coworkers, subcontractors and clients.

The first originality of the paper is related to the new way of considering risk, not only as an analysis criterion but as the central driver in steering a strategic transition for the company, such as servitization. The second originality of the study is about assessing risk occurrence over a decision-making process through decision reliability and decision confidence.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the interconnection of identity play and identity work during transitions.

The authors have conducted a 46-year longitudinal and process-based study on film director Denys Arcand. The focus is on his contested career shift from being a political documentary filmmaker to a box-office success and maker of television commercials. Films and media interviews were largely and systematically analyzed.

In order to explain how to maintain a sense of authenticity in transitioning between contradictory paths, the authors highlight how identity play and identity work appear in self-fuelling interaction through four processes (fragmenting, developing, mixing, and extracting).

The authors suggest new ways to deal with career transitions as well as identity construction in constraining environments.

The authors offer a theoretical framework that makes it possible to combine understandings of identity play and identity work. In particular, the authors develop on how, through play, individuals can create circumstances favourable for performing identity work in the future.

The purpose of this research is to provide a theoretical explanation of the strategic and structural changes occurring in US omnichannel retail supply chains. Using longitudinal data, the research documents transitions in retailers' supply chain strategies, specifically related to the order fulfillment process. It further offers explanation for how and why these transitions occurred.

This research uses a process theory lens to explain the business model transformation of the omnichannel order fulfillment process. Using a case study approach, a longitudinal multicase study was conducted with six large US retailers over a span of 10 years. Within-case and cross-case analysis identifies the sequence and rationale of different strategic and structural shifts in retailers' omnichannel order fulfillment strategy.

The within- and cross-case analyses offer insight into how the transitions occur, at what rate they occur across several different retailers, and why the rate can differ across the stages of omnichannel transition among retailers. The research documents that retailers took varied approaches to strategically develop and structurally change their order fulfillment processes in their transition to omnichannel retail. The findings reveal that these approaches are dependent on retailers' store-based logistics capabilities and specific supply chain arrangements within their retail segment.

The longitudinal and theoretically driven approach provides researchers a better understanding of the business model transformation in US retail omnichannel operations. This approach builds theoretical context around why and how strategic and structural changes in omnichannel fulfillment occurred over time. It also explains the underlying omnichannel phenomenon more accurately than research focused on discrete changes at a single point in time.

The findings and managerial insights can assist practitioners in understanding how environmental changes have led to strategic and structural shifts across different stages of omnichannel fulfillment evolution. These insights also provide guidance to retailers that are currently in early stages of developing their omnichannel fulfillment strategy.

Logistics and fulfillment operations of retailers have changed dramatically over the last 10–15 years. The authors apply a process theory lens to explain how and why retailers have integrated their channels to achieve omnichannel success at the store level.

The purpose of this study was to explore the team process-sequences executed within and across performance episodes and their relation to team performance. In doing so, this effort responds to the call for examining the temporal and dynamic aspects of teams.

Data (i.e. observations and audio recordings) was collected from the stand-up meetings of three high-performing Scrum teams across six points in time during two consecutive performance episodes (i.e. beginning, midpoint, end). After content coding the data, lag sequential analyses was used to examine patterns of executed team processes to determine whether particular process-sequences occurred significantly different from others.

Teams shifted between transition and action phase processes during performance episodes. During and across performance episodes, process-sequences primarily consisted of transition processes. When teams executed process-sequences consisting solely of action phase processes, their focus was on monitoring processes.

This study hopes that the findings here will serve to spur researchers to more fully investigate the relationship between process-sequences and team performance across various team types. However, limitations (e.g. small sample size, unknown point of teams’ life cycle and focus on explicit team processes) should be taken into account when building on the present findings.

This study contributes to a better understanding of the temporal and dynamic nature of team processes by analyzing how the team process and process-sequences occur across time. In addition, this study moves beyond most studies that assess team processes as static retrospective perceptions and consider their natural ordering.