Showing papers by "Henk W. Volberda published in 2013"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors define management innovation as "changing a firm's organizational form, practices and processes in a way that is new to the firm and/or industry, and results in leveraging the firm's technological knowledge base and its performance in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness".
Abstract: Innovation is considered to be the primary driving force of progress and prosperity. Consequently, much effort is put in developing new technological knowledge, new process technologies and new products. However, evidence from both SMEs and large firms shows that successful innovation is not just the result of technological innovation, but is also heavily dependent on what has been called ‘management innovation’. Management innovation consists of changing a firm's organizational form, practices and processes in a way that is new to the firm and/or industry, and results in leveraging the firm's technological knowledge base and its performance in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. Recent research shows that management innovation explains a substantial degree of the variance of innovation performance of firms. More active stimulation of management innovation and its leverage of technological innovation will be crucial to improve the competitiveness of firms. However, only solid research can increase our understanding of what matters in various kinds of management innovations. Just as technological change requires systematic R&D, the development and diffusion of management innovations require systematic research on the crucial determinants of success. In this paper we will define management innovation, discuss the multidirectional causalities between technological and management innovation, and develop a framework that identifies common areas of research in terms of antecedents, process dimensions of management innovation, outcomes and contextual factors. Moreover, we will position the papers of this special issue in this framework and develop an agenda for future research into management innovation. We conclude this introductory paper by specifying the most important research priorities for further advancing the emerging field of management innovation.
268 citations
TL;DR: The role of management innovation in enabling technological process innovation in an interorganizational context remains largely unexplored as discussed by the authors, however, the role of new-to-the-firm management activities has been explored.
Abstract: For sustained competitive advantage of established process manufacturing firms, technological process innovation to improve resource productivity and environmental performance has become of pivotal importance These firms, however, often face intra-organizational tensions to reconcile pressures for exploration and exploitation across subsequent phases of technological process innovation Firms may, therefore, need to perform the development phase - being the most sensitive to these tensions - in the inter-organizational context of an external dedicated development facility This requires new-to-the-firm management activities, ie, management innovation However, the role of management innovation in enabling technological process innovation in an inter-organizational context remains largely unexplored To address this gap, in developing propositions we use illustrative examples from the research context of an external development facility for sustainable process technology The paper has two contributions First, by adopting a process perspective we are able to clarify how both types of innovation are combined over time in an intertwined way Second, we extend management innovation theory by conceptualizing management innovation in an inter-organizational context We conclude with implications for theory, practice and future research
133 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an attention-based perspective is adopted, focusing on attention scope as well as distributed and situated attention, to assess how senior team attributes moderate the relationship between EO and firm performance.
114 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a knowledge-based framework for aligning internal and external rates of change in the oil industry has been developed to identify the drivers of change and understand how to pace the rate of strategic renewal actions.
98 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the effect of management innovation on a firm's ability to effectively adopt an emerging core technology and reveal the role of management innovations in fulfilling seemingly paradoxical structural requirements of knowledge accumulation in a dynamic knowledge environment.
Abstract: This paper examines the effect of management innovation on a firm's ability to effectively adopt an emerging core technology. Organizing for technological change is often associated with structural dilemmas for incumbents: while structural contingent solutions such as spatially separated units and parallel organizations have been frequently discussed as enablers of handling contradictory requirements of existing and emerging technologies, there is empirical evidence that such solutions are likely to be either unfeasible or unsustainable in the cases of core technologies. Our analysis on the adoption process of a new core technology by a large telecommunication firm reveals the role of management innovation in fulfilling seemingly paradoxical structural requirements of knowledge accumulation in a dynamic knowledge environment. We discuss how a novel structural approach enabled the organization to overcome rigidities in the existing routines and foster a favorable environment for adoption of cloud technology and to overcome organizational challenges, with which the firm's conventional practices failed to commensurate.
94 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors distinguish between intra-organizational and extraorganizational sources of advice and examine how factors at the environmental, firm, and top management team (TMT) level relate to patterns of CEO advice-seeking.
Abstract: Advice-seeking is one of the most basic practices in making real-life decisions and has been shown to be a predominant mode of knowledge acquisition at the upper echelons level. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in particular seek advice to obtain formulated judgments, opinions, and suggestions about current strategic directions and recommended alternatives for future courses of action. In this study we distinguish between intra-organizational and extra-organizational sources of advice and examine how factors at the environmental, firm, and top management team (TMT) level relate to patterns of CEO advice-seeking. We develop and test hypotheses linking perceived environmental dynamism, relative competitive firm performance, and TMT heterogeneity to CEO advice-seeking from internal and external sources and uncover asymmetric patterns. We discuss implications for upper echelons theory and strategic decision-making research.
85 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the implications of board involvement for international joint ventures and find that board involvement can enhance the performance of IJVs, particularly for collaborations that are complex in nature due to their broad functional scope and the level of market overlap between IJV parents.
Abstract: This study draws from the corporate governance literature to investigate the implications of board involvement for international joint ventures (IJVs) We extend recent corporate governance research on the value of board involvement by investigating unique sources of complexity related to the nature of the IJV We argue and find that board involvement can enhance the performance of IJVs, particularly for collaborations that are complex in nature due to their broad functional scope as well the level of market overlap between IJV parents We complement recent research on joint venture control that has focused on the antecedents and types of control, as well as studies on formal (eg contractual safeguards and monitoring) and informal governance mechanisms (eg trust) by providing empirical evidence that IJV board involvement is valuable when directors undertake their control and coordination responsibilities We advance corporate governance research by providing evidence that joint ventures possess several unique characteristics that shape the value of board involvement, thereby showing that applications of corporate governance theory to joint ventures are useful, but should be made with care
32 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the effect of modular organizing and organizational sensing on the responsiveness of the Dutch armed forces for crisis response deployment in an organization specifically designed to handle crises.
Abstract: The topic of organizational responsiveness – where organizations need to flexibly react to strategic and operational demands simultaneously – has been under-explored in strategic management research. Our study was initiated to shed more light on this topic, primarily by studying an organization specifically designed to handle crises. By definition, crisis response organizations have to be prepared to react to unpredictable events. Moreover, the volatility of the crisis situation itself requires a high degree of flexibility to get or keep the situation under control. The study hypothesizes modular organizing and organizational sensing to be key drivers of organizational responsiveness. Empirically, we examine the effect these two variables have on the responsiveness of the Netherlands armed forces for crisis response deployment. Findings indicate that modular organizing and organizational sensing are drivers of responsiveness. In addition, our study uncovered the importance of an organization’s level of system decomposition to responsiveness. A high degree of system granularity can lead to a predominantly inward focus whereas organizational responsiveness calls for a strong external orientation.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the effect of modular organizing and organizational sensing on the responsiveness of the Dutch armed forces for crisis response deployment in an organization specifically designed to handle crises.
Abstract: The topic of organizational responsiveness – where organizations need to flexibly react to strategic and operational demands simultaneously – has been under-explored in strategic management research. Our study was initiated to shed more light on this topic, primarily by studying an organization specifically designed to handle crises. By definition, crisis response organizations have to be prepared to react to unpredictable events. Moreover, the volatility of the crisis situation itself requires a high degree of flexibility to get or keep the situation under control. The study hypothesizes modular organizing and organizational sensing to be key drivers of organizational responsiveness. Empirically, we examine the effect these two variables have on the responsiveness of the Netherlands armed forces for crisis response deployment. Findings indicate that modular organizing and organizational sensing are drivers of responsiveness. In addition, our study uncovered the importance of an organization’s level of system decomposition to responsiveness. A high degree of system granularity can lead to a predominantly inward focus whereas organizational responsiveness calls for a strong external orientation.
9 citations
31 Jan 2013
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed to what extent modular organizing and organizational sensing have contributed to flexible military crisis response performance and found that within most mission contexts, modular organizing acts as a facilitator for the organizational sensing process.
Abstract: Since the transformation was set in motion to change Western armed forces from large-scale mechanized defensive organizations into smaller agile expeditionary crisis response forces, the call for organizational flexibility has rocketed. Yet, actual research into the key organizational drivers of flexibility has hardly been done. To bridge this gap, the present study has analyzed to what extent modular organizing and organizational sensing have contributed to flexible military crisis response performance. The study uses the Netherlands’ armed forces as a representative example of a contemporary Western crisis response organization and empirically draws upon its recent operational experiences. It has uncovered that within most mission contexts, modular organizing acts as a facilitator for the organizational sensing process. Yet, within highly turbulent crisis response missions, organizational sensing becomes the predominant driver, stimulating ad hoc solutions that challenge existing structures, available t...
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of sociale innovatie is introduced as an anjager van productiviteit and concurrentiekracht, e.g., in the context of co-creatie.
Abstract: Dit introductieartikel gaat over het belangrijke maar relatief onderbelichte concept van sociale innovatie. Sociale innovatie omvat innovatieve organisatievormen (flexibel organiseren), het ontwikkelen van nieuwe managementvaardigheden (dynamisch managen), het realiseren van hoogwaardige arbeidsrelaties (slimmer werken) en co-creatie (samen met anderen innoveren). Sociale innovatie als aanjager van productiviteit en concurrentiekracht
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a framework of how incumbent firms organize for adoption and implementation of an emerging disruptive business model, based on an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by incumbent firms.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to develop a framework of how incumbent firms organize for adoption and implementation of an emerging disruptive business model. The framework, based on an in-depth...