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11 – 20 of over 6000This study aims to investigate how bricolage and improvisation increase the opportunities for supply chain integration of contract manufacturers. Connecting…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how bricolage and improvisation increase the opportunities for supply chain integration of contract manufacturers. Connecting bricolage/improvisation with resource dependence theory offers an appropriate theoretical lens with which to understand the increasing focus on the view that bricolage and improvisation are feasible ways to create desired resources for contract manufacturers. Such resources can then enhance the autonomy of contract manufacturers in supply chain by building contract manufacturer–supply chain partner relationship interdependencies.
Design/methodology/approach
Given that the primary focus of the study was whether and how contract manufacturers respond to resource constraints, namely, bricolage and improvisation and environmental uncertainty as a moderating effect of fastener contract manufacturers' supplier/buyer integration, only firms that had contractual agreements involving manufacturing services for original equipment manufacturer and/or original design manufacture data were included in this population. This study selected a population from a list of 674 fastener firms provided by the Taiwan Industrial Fastener Institute in 2020 using a mailed survey to test the hypotheses. By the beginning of 2022, 165 completed questionnaires were returned, and the total useable sample was 158.
Findings
Hypotheses are tested using 158 contract manufacturers of the Taiwanese fastener industry. Results show that bricolage can lead contract manufacturers to initiate supplier and buyer integration. The moderating effect of environmental uncertainty further strengthens the above positive relationships. Without the moderating effect of the environmental uncertainty, improvisation leads contract manufacturers to initiate only supplier but not buyer integration. However, when the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty is included, improvisation leads contract manufacturers to initiate only buyer integration.
Originality/value
This finding highlights the importance of the environmental uncertainty when contract manufacturers adopt bricolage/improvisation to initiate supply chain integration.
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Sha Xu, Jie He, Alastair M. Morrison, Xiaohua Su and Renhong Zhu
Drawing from resource orchestration theory, this research proposed an integrative model that leverages insights into counter resource constraints and uncertainty in start-up…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from resource orchestration theory, this research proposed an integrative model that leverages insights into counter resource constraints and uncertainty in start-up business model innovation (BMI). It investigated the influences of entrepreneurial networks and effectuation on BMI through bricolage in uncertain environments.
Design/methodology/approach
The research surveyed 481 start-ups in China. LISREL 8.80 and SPSS 22.0 were employed to test the validity and reliability of key variables, respectively. Additionally, hypotheses were examined through multiple linear regression.
Findings
First, entrepreneurial networks and effectuation were positively related to BMI, and combining these two factors improved BMI for start-ups. Second, bricolage contributed to BMI and played mediating roles in translating entrepreneurial networks and effectuation into BMI. Third, environmental uncertainty weakened the linkage between bricolage and BMI.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should replicate the results in other countries because only start-ups in China were investigated in the study, and it is necessary to extend this research by gathering longitudinal data. This research emphasized the mediating effects of bricolage and the moderating influence of environmental uncertainty, and new potential mediating and moderating factors should be explored between resources and BMI.
Originality/value
There are three significant theoretical contributions. First, the findings enrich the literature on the complex antecedents of BMI by combining the impacts of entrepreneurial networks and effectuation. Second, an overarching framework is proposed explaining how bricolage (resource management) links entrepreneurial networks and effectuation and BMI. Third, it demonstrates the significance of environmental uncertainty in the bricolage–BMI linkage, deepening the understanding of the bricolage boundary condition.
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Vadim Krivorotov, Alexey Kalina, Vasiliy Tretyakov, Sergey Yerypalov and Anna Oykher
The purpose of this study is to develop a model for the selection of optimal development projects for an industrial complex (IC), aimed at improving its competitiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop a model for the selection of optimal development projects for an industrial complex (IC), aimed at improving its competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Selection of optimal projects for IC development is carried out within the framework of a methodical approach to assessing and forecasting the competitiveness of IC based on the phased implementation of the following steps: assessment of the current level of competitiveness of an IC; optimization of the project portfolio aimed at improving the IC competitiveness; forecasting the IC competitiveness. The methodology for assessing the IC competitiveness is based on a comparative analysis of its activities against those of its leading competitors and evaluates two integral characteristics, namely, the level of current competitiveness and the indicator of the competitive potential. The methodical approach to the selection of the optimal portfolio of projects for the development of competitiveness is based on a step-by-step optimization of the portfolio using a dynamic programming procedure, which takes into account the implementation conditions of the projects, resource constraints and the prioritization of these projects. The targeted benchmark for the optimization is an integral indicator of IC competitiveness, comprising various aspects of its activities.
Findings
Method for multi-factor evaluation of IC competitiveness and the impact of a set of factors driving competitive advantage; set of benchmarks of IC competitiveness; the model for the selection and step-by-step optimization of the portfolio of IC development projects, aimed at increasing competitiveness in the context of resource constraints.
Practical implications
Methodology described in this paper was used to assess the competitiveness and optimize the project portfolio of Uralelektrotyazhmash Group of Enterprises (UETM), one of the largest power engineering complexes in Russia. The assessment was carried out in comparison with the leading domestic and global manufacturers of electrical equipment, which form UETM’s primary competition in the marketplace.
Originality/value
The study establishes a method for the comprehensive assessment of IC competitiveness based on the comparison of IC activity indicators with those of leading competitors. The proposed method defines an integral competitiveness index to allow for the quantitative assessment of IC competitiveness, development of measures to improve IC competitiveness and producing a methodology to forecast the impact of such measures; the study proposes a methodical approach to selecting the optimal portfolio of projects for the development of IC based on the stepwise optimization of such a portfolio while taking into account the conditions of their implementation, resource constraints and the impact on the indicator of competitiveness. This approach allows the IC to prioritize the implementation of the development projects and maximize its competitiveness in the context of available resources.
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It has been claimed that Born Globals are incompatible with the Uppsala model, which is based on the firm having a maximum tolerable risk level. This assumption was used to…
Abstract
Purpose
It has been claimed that Born Globals are incompatible with the Uppsala model, which is based on the firm having a maximum tolerable risk level. This assumption was used to explain observed incremental commitments, with further commitments being made as experiential learning reduces the level of risk faced. This study aims to show that adding a consideration of the role of expected value, including the effects of resource constraints, can reconcile the Born Global and internationalisation process literatures.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical arguments are supported by mathematical modelling of a firm pursuing expected value based on subjective beliefs.
Findings
While the effects of risk and expected value coincide when firms limit their downside risks by taking an incremental approach to commitments, other factors impacting on expected value can shift the balance of incentives towards earlier and more rapid internationalisation. For instance, some firms are specialised and have high costs of R&D, and so need to achieve early and rapid growth but face small home markets. While resource constraints can lead a firm to expand for some time in its home market before internationalising, the effect can be reversed in the case of the finance constraint for some firms.
Originality/value
The study shows how Born Global and internationalisation process literatures can be reconciled through a consideration of the effects of expected value on internationalisation decisions. It also provides a novel theoretical analysis of Born Globals.
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Gillian C. Hopkinson and Sandra Hogarth‐Scott
Examines the behavioural implications of the three main micro‐economic explanations – resource constraint, agency theory and search cost theory – for franchising. Reviews these…
Abstract
Examines the behavioural implications of the three main micro‐economic explanations – resource constraint, agency theory and search cost theory – for franchising. Reviews these theories, along with the empirical evidence found to support them. Highlights the implications of each explanation upon relational quality using four relational characteristics drawn from Macneil. Uses the characteristics of power balance, anticipation of trouble, sense of unity and presentation of costs and benefits. Argues that since the motivation to franchise depends upon the specific strategy employed by the franchisor, then relational quality will legitimately differ according to franchisor strategy. Describes a model drawn by linking strategic direction, franchise motivation and relational quality. Some illustrative propositions are derived from the model. Discusses the implications of the theory for both researchers and managers.
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Merie Joseph Kannampuzha and Mari Suoranta
The paper aims to understand how resource constraints are addressed in the development of a marketing strategy by a social enterprise.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to understand how resource constraints are addressed in the development of a marketing strategy by a social enterprise.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have used an in-depth case study of collaboration between a Finnish university and an Indian social enterprise as the methodology for the research in which the data were collected over a period of two years. The data involve semi-structured interviews, field notes and student reports.
Findings
The authors propose bricolage as a method of marketing ingenuity in resource-constrained social enterprises. Network bricolage and entrepreneurship education bricolage were identified as two mechanisms adopted to address resource constraints in the early stage of the development of a social enterprise. Further studies need to be conducted to test the applicability of network bricolage among a variety of small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. Bricolage could be explored in more detail as an alternative to resource leveraging to understand the marketing activities of social businesses in their initial stages.
Research limitations/implications
Network bricolage is a type of bricolage in which an entrepreneur utilizes existing personal and professional networks as a resource at hand. Although networking and resource leveraging imply that the founders of an organization pursue resources from previously unknown people, network bricolage involves already known contacts of the entrepreneur.
Practical implications
Another type of bricolage that observed by the authors was entrepreneurship education bricolage. A combination of students, business mentors and university resources such as faculty members was utilized as an ingenuity mechanism to develop creative solutions for a shortage of marketing resources.
Originality/value
The theoretical framework of entrepreneurial bricolage is applied in the context of the marketing of a social enterprise.
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Punita Bhatt and Levent Altinay
This paper aims to explore how social capital is leveraged in social innovations to overcome resource constraints. The paper reports on the findings from an exploratory study on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how social capital is leveraged in social innovations to overcome resource constraints. The paper reports on the findings from an exploratory study on the social innovation process within Indian social entrepreneurial ventures (SEVs) developed in a resource constrained environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts an interpretive case study approach to investigating social innovation that enables researchers to identify the cultural contexts within which social entrepreneurship emerges. Views of the social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs were gathered through semi-structured interviews and observations.
Findings
Findings of the study demonstrated that there are distinctive stages of the social innovation process. The stages of the process are initial phase: emergence of a social idea for a venture; development phase: building the social venture; and scaling phase: growing the social venture. These stages of the process lead to the identification of social needs as social entrepreneurial opportunities, then to the initiation, development and scaling of conjectured solutions generating economic and social value.
Practical implications
During the development stage of the social innovation, closer relationships with investors could help access scarce financial resources. Finally, in the scaling phase, greater involvement with the target beneficiaries can help reduce marketing and search-related costs for SEVs. Thus, greater engagement of beneficiaries throughout the social innovation process can help in the successful initiation, development and scaling of a social innovation.
Originality/value
First, this study identifies the distinctive stages of the social innovation process. Second, this study provides empirical evidence to support previous claims that social innovations develop in resource-constrained environments. Finally, this exploratory research has investigated social innovations in a developing country context – India.
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Ted Baker, Timothy G. Pollock and Harry J. Sapienza
In this study we examine how resource-constrained organizations can maneuver for competitive advantage in highly institutionalized fields. Unlike studies of institutional…
Abstract
In this study we examine how resource-constrained organizations can maneuver for competitive advantage in highly institutionalized fields. Unlike studies of institutional entrepreneurship, we investigate competitive maneuvering by an organization that is unable to alter either the regulative or normative institutions that characterize its field. Using the “Moneyball” phenomenon and recent changes in Major League Baseball as the basis for an intensive case study of entrepreneurial actions taken by the Oakland A’s, we found that the A’s were able to maneuver for advantage by using bricolage and refusing to enact baseball’s cognitive institutions, and that they continued succeeding despite ongoing resource constraints and rapid copying of their actions by other teams. These results contribute to our understanding of competitive maneuvering and change in institutionalized fields. Our findings expand the positioning of bricolage beyond its prior characterization as a tool used primarily by peripheral organizations in less institutionalized fields; our study suggests that bricolage may aid resource constrained participants (including the majority of entrepreneurial firms) to survive in a wider range of circumstances than previously believed.
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Hemantha S. B. Herath, Wayne G. Bremser and Jacob G. Birnberg
Empirical evidence indicates that effective management of resources to implement strategy in a balanced scorecard (BSC) system is essential. We present a mathematical model for…
Abstract
Purpose
Empirical evidence indicates that effective management of resources to implement strategy in a balanced scorecard (BSC) system is essential. We present a mathematical model for allocating limited resources in the BSC strategy implementation process.
Methodology/approach
The proposed facilitated negotiation model provides a systematic approach to prioritizing strategic initiatives in the design and implementation of a BSC.
Findings
Our joint decision model prioritizes strategic initiatives and concurrently calculates the optimal (or approximately optimal) set of BSC targets and weights, given multiyear resource restrictions.
Practical Implications
The model assumes full, open, and truthful exchange of information between the parties; an assumption that may exclude many organizations.
Social Implications
We address an important gap in the BSC literature on how organizations can effectively link strategy to the potential constraint of resource budgets.
Originality/value
Quantitative models are being used in practice for allocating resources, but we are not aware of their use by organizations for allocating resources in a BSC application.
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