Pádraig Belton

Bio: Pádraig Belton is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Market share & Organizational learning. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 3 publications receiving 590 citations.

An Analysis of James March's Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning

Abstract: Exploration and Exploitation is a key text for scholars and business practitioners interested in promoting economic well-being and sustainable growth. March’s work promotes the preservation of companies’ competitiveness and sustainability in the fluctuating market environment by maintaining a balance between exploration and exploitation processes. He explicates that this balance depends on the interchange between the adaptive capability of the company, predictability and consistency, competition, anticipations, level of risk, learning, socialization dynamics within the organization, and the overall environmental turbulence. These intricacies make March’s text invaluable.

Competitive Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance

Abstract: Michael E. Porter’s 1980 book Competitive Strategy is a fine example of critical thinking skills in action. Porter used his strong evaluative skills to overturn much of the accepted wisdom in the world of business. By exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the accepted argument that the best policy for firms to become more successful was to focus on expanding their market share, he was able to establish that the credibility of the argument was flawed. Porter did not believe such growth was the only way for a company to be successful, and provided compelling arguments as to why this was not the case. His book shows how industries can be fragmented, with different firms serving different parts of the market (the low-price mass market, and the expensive high-end market in clothing, for example) and examines strategies that businesses can follow in emerging, mature, and declining markets. If printing is in decline, for example, there may still be a market in this industry for high-end goods and services such as luxury craft bookbinding. Porter also made excellent use of the critical thinking skill of analysis in writing Competitive Strategy. His advice that executives should analyze the five forces that mold the environment in which they compete – new entrants, substitute products, buyers, suppliers, and industry rivals – focused heavily on defining the relationships between these disparate factors and urged readers to check the assumptions of their arguments. Porter avoided technical jargon and wrote in a straightforward way to help readers see that his evaluation of the problem was strong. Competitive Strategy went on to be a highly influential work in the world of business strategy.

Sustaining Superior Performance in Business Ecosystems: Evidence from Application Software Developers in the iOS and Android Smartphone Ecosystems

Abstract: We study the phenomenon of business ecosystems in which platform firms orchestrate the functioning of ecosystems by providing platforms and setting the rules for participation by complementor firms...

Development goals in an era of demographic change

Abstract: Chapter one examines the progress made on sustainable poverty reduction and shared prosperity, as well as the policies that are needed to make further progress. With 2015 being a watershed year for global development goals, Chapter two reviews the development successes during the MDG period and examines the unfinished agenda left for the SDGs. Chapter three assesses the macroeconomic performance over the MDG period, provides the near- and medium-term outlook, and examines what the world might be like in 2030. Part two, the thematic part, examines how demographic change can be tilted in favor of the development goals. Chapter four characterizes demographic change at the global, regional, and country level. It also examines the drivers of demographic change that have shaped the diversity of demographic patterns and trends. Chapter five examines how demography affects development. It develops a new global typology that ties demographic change to development potential and analyzes the various pathways through which demographic change affects the prosperity of nations. Chapter six analyzes how policies can leverage demographic change in support of the development goals. It examines policy opportunities at both the country and the global level.