James Brian Quinn

Bio: James Brian Quinn is an academic researcher from Dartmouth College. The author has contributed to research in topics: Technological change & Innovation management. The author has an hindex of 17, co-authored 27 publications receiving 6343 citations.

Intelligent Enterprise: A Knowledge and Service Based Paradigm for Industry

Abstract: Quinn argues that the successful firms of the 1990s will be service oriented and will use innovative techonology to increase the range and improve the range of their services. Rapid response will be objective and flexibiltiy of management style will be the means. Quinn uses examples from companies such as Apple, Honda, ServiceMaster and Merck to show how a commitment to technological innovation married to a service-oriented outlook can produce impressive business results.

Strategic outsourcing: leveraging knowledge capabilities

Abstract: Today's knowledge- and service-based economy offers companies a chance to increase profits through strategic outsourcing of intellectually based systems. As companies disaggregate intellectual activities internally and outsource more externally, they approach true virtual organization with knowledge centers interacting largely through mutual interest and electronic ? rather than authority ? systems. In this article, Quinn outlines an integrated knowledge and outsourcing strategy that can mitigate the risks and concerns associated with outsourcing. Companies with successful knowledge strategies follow these well-accepted principles: They concentrate on developing "best in world" capabilities that customers genuinely care about. An effective core competency strategy focuses on two to four cross-functional, intellectually based service activities or knowledge and skill sets that the company can build and maintain at best-in-world levels to provide a flexible platform for future innovations (at least one directly connected to understanding the customer). Such core competencies become "strategic blocks" that prevent a firm's suppliers from directly attacking its markets and increase the firm's bargaining power and security. They leverage the capabilities and investments of others by exploiting three areas of intellectual outsourcing: (1) traditional service or functional activities performed in-house (e.g., accounting, IT, or employee benefits); (2) complementary, integrative, or duplicative activities scattered throughout the company; and (3) disciplines, subsystems, or systems in which outsiders have greater expertise or capabilities for innovation. They innovate constantly. Links to outside knowledge sources that are able to assemble diverse expertise greatly affect the timing and amplitude of innovations. Sophisticated outsourcing supported by new electronic communications, modeling, and monitoring techniques enables companies to reduce innovation cycle times and costs by 60 percent to 90 percent and decrease investments and risks by equal amounts. They eliminate inflexibilities, such as fixed overhead, bureaucracy, and physical plant, by tapping the resources of the downstream customer chain and the upstream technology and supply chain. How can a company best manage risks and develop the full potential of intellectual outsourcing? Successful outsourcers carefully develop and implement certain crucial management controls that Quinn describes. Outsourcing also must become a top management issue because lower- to intermediate-level managers tend to be actively hostile to outsourcing ? fearing loss of jobs, prestige, or power.

Managing Innovation: Controlled Chaos

Abstract: Based on the initial results of a multi-year research study, the managerial practices of successful large companies and their smaller counterparts are evaluated and patterns in their innovation approaches are considered. A combination of past and present research is used to determine factors crucial to successful small firm innovation. The primary factors identified are: (1) effective technological innovation develops from a knowledge and response to customer demand; (2) founders' commitment to their objective, being technology pioneers and good problem solvers allow them to persevere despite the set-backs, frustrations, and ambiguities that accompany innovations; (3) delays between innovation and commercial production can range from 3 to 25 years, so perseverance is key; (4) few overhead costs are incurred for some small firms (especially home-based businesses) which decreases the risk facing small operations and improves the value of their present success; (5) solutions are adopted wherever they can be found and this unencumbered approach removes limits on imagination and increases motivation; (6) undeterred by delays common in large companies, the inventor-entrepreneur can experiment, test, recycle, and try again with little time lost and can gain timing and performance advantages; (7) inventor-entrepreneurs can foresee tangible personal rewards if they succeed, unlike entrepreneurs with monetary goals who may panic or quit without monetary rewards; and (8) the number and variety of sources for small business financing available in the U.S. is a huge asset to inventor-entrepreneurs. In addition, interviews and secondary sources were used and cross-checked to establish the management patterns of several outstanding innovative large companies in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Finding show these are the most important patterns for successful innovation in large firms: (1) atmosphere and vision; (2) orientation to the market; (3) small, flat organizations; (4) multiple approaches; (5) developmental shoot-outs; (6) small teams of engineers, technicians, designers, and model makers with no intervening organizational or physical barriers to developing a new product from idea to commercial prototype stages; and (7) interactive learning. Finally, these key elements necessary for established companies wishing to innovate are identified and discussed: (1) opportunity orientation; (2) structuring for innovation; and (3) complex portfolio planning. (SFL)

Managing professional intellect: making the most of the best.

Abstract: In the postindustrial era, the success of a corporation lies more in its intellectual and systems capabilities than in its physical assets. The capacity to manage human intellect—and to convert it into useful products and services—is fast becoming the critical executive skill of the age. As a result, there has been a flurry of interest in intellectual capital, creativity, innovation, and the learning organization, but surprisingly little attention has been given to managing professional intellect.

Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing

Abstract: Marketing inherited a model of exchange from economics, which had a dominant logic based on the exchange of “goods,” which usually are manufactured output The dominant logic focused on tangible resources, embedded value, and transactions Over the past several decades, new perspectives have emerged that have a revised logic focused on intangible resources, the cocreation of value, and relationships The authors believe that the new perspectives are converging to form a new dominant logic for marketing, one in which service provision rather than goods is fundamental to economic exchange The authors explore this evolving logic and the corresponding shift in perspective for marketing scholars, marketing practitioners, and marketing educators

Clarifying the Entrepreneurial Orientation Construct and Linking It To Performance

Abstract: The primary purpose of this article is to clarify the nature of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and to propose a contingency framework for investigating the relationship between EO and firm performance. We first explore and refine the dimensions of EO and discuss the usefulness of viewing a firm's EO as a multidimensional construct. Then, drawing on examples from the EO-related contingencies literature, we suggest alternative models (moderating effects, mediating effects, independent effects, interaction effects) for testing the EO-performance relationship.

Market Orientation and the Learning Organization

Abstract: Effective organizations are configurations of management practices that facilitate the development of the knowledge that becomes the basis for competitive advantage. A market orientation, complemen...

An Organizational Learning Framework: From Intuition to Institution

Abstract: Although interest in organizational learning has grown dramatically in recent years, a general theory of organizational learning has remained elusive. We identify renewal of the overall enterprise as the underlying phenomenon of interest and organizational learning as a principal means to this end. With this perspective we develop a framework for the process of organizational learning, presenting organizational learning as four processes—intuiting, interpreting, integrating, and institutionalizing—linking the individual, group, and organizational levels.

Product development: past research, present findings, and future directions

Abstract: The literature on product development continues to grow. This research is varied and vibrant, yet large and fragmented. In this article we first organize the burgeoning product-development literature into three streams of research: product development as rational plan, communication web, and disciplined problem solving. Second, we synthesize research findings into a model of factors affecting the success of product development. This model highlights the distinction between process performance and product effectiveness and the importance of agents, including team members, project leaders, senior management, customers, and suppliers, whose behavior affects these outcomes. Third, we indicate potential paths for future research based on the concepts and links that are missing or not well defined in the model.