Showing papers by "Copenhagen Business School published in 1999"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a knowledge-based economy with limits to learning Regional capabilities, institutions, and localised learning for enhanced knowledge creation in industrial districts, where they focus on industrial districts.
Abstract: Introduction: Towards the knowledge-based economy Knowledge creation Limits to learning Regional capabilities, institutions and localised learning. Enhanced knowledge creation: industrial districts
2,212 citations
VU University Amsterdam1, University of Pennsylvania2, University of Maryland, Baltimore3, Cornell University4, New Mexico State University5, Qatar Airways6, Louisiana Tech University7, Université du Québec8, Stockholm School of Economics9, University of Buenos Aires10, University of Alberta11, University of Indonesia12, University of Queensland13, Bellevue University14, London Business School15, Western Illinois University16, University of Memphis17, Fudan University18, Boğaziçi University19, University of Reading20, University of South Africa21, Athens University of Economics and Business22, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich23, University of Calgary24, University of Burgundy25, National Sun Yat-sen University26, Hong Kong Polytechnic University27, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad28, City University of Hong Kong29, Lincoln University (New Zealand)30, University of Lethbridge31, Wayne State University32, University College Dublin33, Indiana University34, Kuwait University35, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology36, University of Giessen37, The Chinese University of Hong Kong38, University of Zurich39, Fordham University40, Complutense University of Madrid41, University of Nebraska–Lincoln42, INCAE Business School43, National University of Malaysia44, Opole University45, Hong Kong Baptist University46, Tbilisi State University47, Ohio State University48, University of Wrocław49, Alexandria University50, University of San Francisco51, Melbourne Business School52, Bentley University53, University of Los Andes54, I-Shou University55, Johannes Kepler University of Linz56, International Labour Organization57, Smith College58, Copenhagen Business School59, Chungnam National University60, National University of Singapore61, Tilburg University62, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology63, Thammasat University64, Sewanee: The University of the South65, FernUniversität Hagen66, Soochow University (Suzhou)67, University of St. Gallen68, Kumamoto University69
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on culturally endorsed implicit theories of leadership (CLTs) and show that attributes associated with charismatic/transformational leadership will be universally endorsed as contributing to outstanding leadership.
Abstract: This study focuses on culturally endorsed implicit theories of leadership (CLTs). Although cross-cultural research emphasizes that different cultural groups likely have different conceptions of what leadership should entail, a controversial position is argued here: namely that attributes associated with charismatic/transformational leadership will be universally endorsed as contributing to outstanding leadership. This hypothesis was tested in 62 cultures as part of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Research Program. Universally endorsed leader attributes, as well as attributes that are universally seen as impediments to outstanding leadership and culturally contingent attributes are presented here. The results support the hypothesis that specific aspects of charismatic/transformational leadership are strongly and universally endorsed across cultures.
1,227 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that ubiquitification is the outcome of the ongoing globalization process as well as of a process whereby former tacit knowledge gradually becomes codified, which tends to undermine the competitiveness of firms in the high-cost areas of the world.
Abstract: In traditional location theory there is a distinction between factors of production for which the costs differ significantly between locations, on the one hand, and production inputs which are in practice available everywhere at more or less the same cost (i.e. so-called ubiquities) on the other.In this article, we discuss the process whereby some previously important location factors are actively converted into ubiquities. With an admittedly rather horrendous term, we label this process ‘ubi-quitification’. It is argued that ubiquitification is the outcome of the ongoing globalization process as well as of a process whereby former tacit knowledge gradually becomes codified.Ubiquitification tends to undermine the competitiveness of firms in the high-cost areas of the world. When international markets are opened up and when knowledge of the latest production technologies and organizational designs become globally available, firms in low-cost areas become more competitive. In a knowledge-based economy, as a...
580 citations
TL;DR: The capabilities approach complements incentive-based theory by considering the problems of imperfect knowledge in production as well as in governance and by considering issues not only of incentive alignment but also of qualitative coordination among holders of specialized, distributed, and often tacit knowledge as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This paper argues that, since Ronald H. Coase's seminal 1937 paper on 'The Nature of the Firm,' the economics of organization has focused too exclusively on issues of incentive alignment and has ignored issues of imperfect knowledge in production. However, there is now emerging an approach to economic organization--which the authors call 'the capabilities approach.' They argue that the capabilities approach complements incentive-based theory (1) by considering the problems of imperfect knowledge in production as well as in governance and (2) by considering issues not only of incentive alignment but also of qualitative coordination among holders of specialized, distributed, and often tacit knowledge. Copyright 1999 by WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG
409 citations
TL;DR: A case study demonstrates how units of analysis and techniques from grounded theory can be integrated into the action research cycle in order to add rigor and reliability to the theory formulation process.
384 citations
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01 Feb 1999TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an overview of the complexity of the global supply chain and present a model for managing the complexity of the Global Supply Chain using the information system for the supply chain.
Abstract: Preface1 Introduction to the Supply Chain2 Structure and Process3 Inter-Organizational Relationships4 The Information System for the Supply Chain5 Distribution6 Production Issues for the Supply Chain7 Innovation Management in Supply Chains8 Procurement9 Transport and Logistic Services10 Reverse Logistics and Supply Chain Management in the Supply Chain11 Performance Measurement and Management in the Supply Chain12 Strategy and the Supply Chain13 Supply Chain Planning - Modeling Considerations14 Managing the Complexity of the Global Supply ChainReferencesIndex
375 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors join network theories of firm interaction with the recent resource-based perspective in strategic management, which suggests a more satisfactory underpinning for the analysis of competitive advantage within the network approach.
214 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce three different theoretical perspectives on supply chain management: the transaction cost approach, the network perspective, and, the resource-based view, which represent an economic, a sociological and a strategic approach to an analysis of supply chain.
Abstract: Supply Chain Management (SCM) has recently become a popular theme at management conferences and in international journals. However, the concept is not well defined and only implemented in relatively few companies in Europe, typically large, multinational companies. Also, research and educational programs within SCM are exceptional at most European business schools and universities. One reason may be that SCM is a new discipline without established theoretical frameworks and generally accepted methodologies. The paper begins with a definition of supply chain management and discusses the need for a new paradigm for logistics research. It then introduces three different theoretical perspectives on supply chain management: the transaction cost approach; the network perspective; and, the resource‐based view. The three perspectives represent an economic, a sociological and a strategic approach to an analysis of supply chain management. In combination, these approaches can provide logistics researchers and managers with a strong conceptual framework for analyzing supply chain management in theory and practice. This is illustrated by a discussion of two strategic supply chain issues: managing a portfolio of supplier relationships and third‐ logistics.
200 citations
TL;DR: This work focuses on characteristics of this strategic important knowledge and how it can be organized in networks and should be read as a case for paying more attention to knowledge and networks and how to manage these in organizations.
Abstract: Knowledge is a magic term with multiple connotations and interpretations. It is an issue of academic discourse as well as one with important implications for business institutions. How we define and frame knowledge carries implications for the way we try to manage knowledge in organizations and the de facto knowledge in organizations also carries implications for the knowledge existing in organizations. Within the last few decades, there has been an increasing interest in the tacit dimension of knowledge, which is perhaps hardest to manage, as it cannot be formally communicated, and is often embedded in the routines and standard operating procedures of the organization. Focuses on characteristics of this strategic important knowledge and how it can be organized in networks. Should be read as a case for paying more attention to knowledge and networks and how to manage these in organizations.
182 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that flexibility may conflict with productivity as flexibility may not always be a good fit for the company's goals and that it may not be beneficial for all the stakeholders in the firm.
Abstract: A ‘‘flexible firm’’ is one which orients itself towards customers, new technology, lateral organisational arrangements and innovation. It is the ‘‘new organisation’’ where the customers and empowered employees—rather than organisational bureaucracy and capital markets—are said to govern the firm. BusinessPrint is a firm committed to flexibility. However, what flexibility is, how it is achieved and what its eAect is on the firm’s profitability are diAcult to resolve as flexibility may conflict with productivity. In BusinessPrint, flexibility is debated against two modes of management control: one is the ‘‘virtual organisation’’ and the other is the ‘‘political organisation’’. The former is predicated upon the possibility to inscribe not only the firm’s internal production processes but also its relations to customers and subcontractors in an information system and to let that inscription organise inter-organisational spaces of flows. In contrast, the latter is mobilised via labour processes in local places designed to motivate workers to show unconditional adaptability and improvisation in production activities. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
179 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide the solution to an inter-temporal investment problem where the investor has power utility and can invest in stocks and bonds in a complete market setting where the Vasicek term structure model applies.
Abstract: This paper provides the solution to an intertemporal investment problem. The investor has power utility and can invest in stocks and bonds in a complete market setting where the Vasicek term structure model applies. The paper demonstrates that the zero-coupon bond with maturity at the investment horizon is the appropriate instrument for hedging changes in the opportunity set. Implementation issues are discussed and it is shown how the intertemporal investment problem can be recast as a series of mean-variance problems in terms of drift and volatility of the wealth forward price. An application based on a quasi-dynamic programming approach is considered.
TL;DR: In this article, the extent to which dimensions of feedback are related to self-development was examined, and it was found that employees rated their perceptions of feedback received, and supervisors rated employees' self-develop...
Abstract: This study examined the extent to which dimensions of feedback are related to self-development. Employees rated their perceptions of feedback received, and supervisors rated employees’ self-develop...
TL;DR: A game-theoretic framework for analyzing inter-organizational knowledge sharing in the context of co-opetition is introduced and reveals that a crucial aspect will be the firm's ability to manage the process.
Abstract: Recent business trends have given rise to co-opetition: simultaneous co-operation and competition between firms. Co-opetition entails the sharing of knowledge which may be a key source of competitive advantage. Under co-opetition there is a paradox that the knowledge shared for cooperation may also be used for competition. While the existence of this problem is known, there is little investigation of how it may be modeled and, thus, managed.This paper begins by discussing the problem situation and its underlying theory. It then introduces a game-theoretic framework for analyzing inter-organizational knowledge sharing in the context of co-opetition. This allows the value of knowledge shared to be investigated and reveals that a crucial aspect will be the firm's ability to manage the process. Thus, based on the framework, the paper explores management guidelines predicated on co-ordination and control theory for the most challenging of four contingencies identified. The paper concludes with an agenda for future theoretical and empirical research.
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between growth and specialization has been tested by running a regression with the sectoral growth of value added as the dependent variable, and several variables, including some measuring specialization as well as other factors, as the independent variables.
Abstract: The question concerning the extent to which the growth performance of an economy is determined by its external relations is a controversial one. Elements from various theoretical approaches are combined into a framework that stresses the importance of specialization for economic growth. Applied is a data set on growth and trade in 11 manufacturing sectors, for the period 1965-1988, for the OECD area. The main novelty in the database is the assignment of 75 products in the trade data to the 11 industrial sectors. The relationship between growth and specialization has been tested by running a regression with the sectoral growth of value added as the dependent variable, and several variables, including some measuring specialization as well as other factors, as the independent variables. The regression results presented seem to indicate that specialization does indeed matter for economic growth. However, this impact seems to be gradually wearing off during the 1980s, as is the case for other factors included in the regression analysis.
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of supplier-buyer relationships on modularization by evaluating the opportunities of modularization and corresponding interface constraints of a product at four different levels: component, module, sub-system, and system.
TL;DR: In this paper, a new approach where potential improvements are used to guide the selection of reference plans is proposed and an associated translation invariant, strictly monotonous and continuous efficiency index is suggested.
Abstract: Efficiency evaluation of a Decision Making Unit (DMU) involves two issues: 1) selection of an appropriate reference plan against which to evaluate the DMU and 2) measurement of performance slack. In the literature, these issues are mixed in one and the same operation but we argue that it has theoretical as well as practical advantages to separate them. We provide an axiomatic characterization of the implicit Farrell selection. This approach, ignores important aspects of the technology by focussing on proportional variations in inputs (or outputs). We propose a new approach where potential improvements are used to guide the selection of reference plans. A characterization of this approach is provided and an associated translation invariant, strictly monotonous and continuous efficiency index is suggested.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a survey of information systems (IS) researchers in 18 European countries, focusing on the institutional and cognitive profile of the IS field in Europe, using the results of a survey.
Abstract: This paper reviews the institutional and cognitive profile of the information systems (IS) field in Europe, using the results of a survey of IS academics in 18 European countries. The emerging picture suggests that the study of IS in European academia is dispersed in small units with various names, which are hosted in various disciplines across the science/social science spectrum. Our survey confirms the widespread view that the IS field is concerned with the study of a wide range of themes, from developing technologies per se, to assessing the social impact of new information and communication technologies. Moreover, a variety of research perspectives and approaches is found to be pursued, drawing from both the positivist and interpretative epistemological traditions. Reflecting upon the survey findings, we argue that while the institutional dispersion is a weakness that requires remedying action, the cognitive diversity should not be considered as a characteristic of immaturity. In Europe, the diversity of themes and research perspectives probably manifests more fundamental differences of the socioeconomic context which gives rise to, and sustains, different types of IS research in different countries.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine three Scandinavian examples to illustrate how citizens are voluntarily seeking to internalise some of the externalities of everyday life and provide the collective good of improved environmental quality.
TL;DR: In this paper, a large random sample of Estonian firms is used to examine the incidence and dynamics of ownership structures that have occurred since privatization, and the results indicate that inertia in ownership distributions is important, big firms and capital intensive firms are more likely to be owned by outsiders, economic performance does not play a decisive role, and large minority ownership stakes increase the probability that initial majority ownership will change.
TL;DR: The integrationist strategy as discussed by the authors argues that progress is more likely to emerge from a combination of insights and research procedures from both the knowledge-based view and the modern economics of organization.
Abstract: It has been increasingly often argued that strategy research should aim for a ‘strategic theory of the firm’, that is, a theory explains the existence, boundaries, organization and competitive advantage of the firm within a unified theoretical framework. This paper discusses two archetypal strategies in research in the strategic theory of the firm, namely ‘isolationism’ and ‘integrationism’. While the former is representative of the positions that either the knowledge-based view or the modern economics of organization can develop into full-blown strategic theories of the firm, the integrationist strategy stresses that progress is more likely to emerge from a combination of insights and research procedures from both the knowledge-based view and the modern economics of organization. The paper argues in favour of integrationism. In addition, the paper presents some novel criticisms of both the knowledge-based view and the modern economics of organization.
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that this is, at best, imprecise and rather a misrepresentation of Penrose: her interest was not in whether there can be rents in equilibrium, but in firm growth as a disequilibrium phenomenon and her basic vision of the competitive process is very different from that which animates modern economic approaches to strategy, such as the resource-based approach and new industrial organisation economics.
Abstract: Edith Penrose's work on is often seen as a classic in strategic management and a precursor of today's resource-based view of the firm. However, it is argued in this paper that this is, at best, imprecise and rather a misrepresentation of Penrose: her interest was not in whether there can be rents in equilibrium, but in firm growth as a disequilibrium phenomenon. Moreover, her basic vision of the competitive process is very different from that which animates modern economic approaches to strategy, such as the resource-based approach and new industrial organisation economics. This paper briefly discusses some implications for modern strategic thinking of Penrose's vision.
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the concept of common knowledge is shown to be particularly important to understanding leadership, and leaders may establish common knowledge conditions and assist the coordination of strategies in this way, or make decisions in situations where coordination problems persist in spite of the common knowledge.
Abstract: Important aspects of leadership behavior can be rendered intelligible through a focus on coordination games The concept of common knowledge is shown to be particularly important to understanding leadership Thus, leaders may establish common knowledge conditions and assist the coordination of strategies in this way, or make decisions in situations where coordination problems persist in spite of common knowledge
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the sources of organizational strengths of subsidiaries in the larger multinational corporation, and argue that organizational strength can to some extent be proxied by strength in the market place.
Book•
01 Jun 1999TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the regional linkages between learning and competitiveness using the North European Oresund Region as an illustrative case, where the 16 kilometre long bridge and tunnel will be completed between the cities of Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmo in Sweden, significantly improving the accessibility within an area of thousands of companies and a concentration of research facilities.
Abstract: The learning region has become an important concept among scholars, managers and policymakers. Companies are increasingly stimulated by, and dependent on, the unevenly distributed localized capabilities that enhance learning and innovation. Learning regions are a contemporary consequence of the way companies react to the global opening of markets. Despite the trends towards global integration, there is little evidence to suggest that cross-border economic activities have eliminated deep-seated differences among the advanced industrial economies. It takes generations to build national identities and establish complex national investigation systems favouring growth and prosperity also at a regional level. It takes years of hard work to amalgamate two countries' distinctive innovation systems into one, even when most formal barriers have been eroded. It can take even longer for a common cross-border regional identity to materialize. Only then can the full potential of cross-border synergy begin to be realized. The aim of this book is to investigate the regional linkages between learning and competitiveness using the North European Oresund Region as an illustrative case. In the year 2000, the 16 kilometre long bridge and tunnel will be completed between the cities of Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmo in Sweden, significantly improving the accessibility within an area of thousands of companies and a concentration of research facilities, technological and commercial expertise and educational institutions.
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that firms increasingly compete on innovation and generation of entrepreneurial rents than on cost-reduction, and argue that embedded tacit knowledge will serve as the innovative firm's competitive edge.
Abstract: Unites the role that knowledge-creation plays in firm competitiveness with the importance of localized capabilities. The authors begin with the thesis that firms increasingly compete on innovation and generation of entrepreneurial rents than on cost-reduction. Essential to the ability to innovate are skills in knowledge-creation and dissemination within a firm. The path-dependent nature of knowledge creation, that is, the fact that earlier obtained knowledge influences current knowledge-creation, is explored as is the role of the entrepreneur is converting unused or unusable knowledge into a usable form. Noting that tacit knowledge, defined as knowledge that has not been put into a transmissible, symbolic form, suffers from imperfect markets and obstacles to trade, the authors contend that embedded tacit knowledge will serve as the innovative firm's competitive edge. One important facilitator of knowledge-creation is a region's institutional endowment, or the transmission in time of an accumulated stock of knowledge. Firms in industries particularly favored by a region's institutional endowment will find competitive advantages by locating there; this in turn will prompt agglomerations of related firms. However, the authors note that empirical data on this point is in conflict and call for further research. Imitation of localized capabilities is problematic due to asset mass efficiencies, time compression diseconomies, and the inter-connectedness of regional asset stocks. The ability of regions to transmit localized capabilities over time and impede their transmission over space sustains continuous regional competitiveness. Finally the cause of regional decline is considered. Asset erosion, and particularly, obsolescence, when combined with reluctance to adapt to new technologies or market lead to regional lock-in. This demonstrates that "unlearning" plays a key role in facilitating knowledge-creation and preserving firm and regional competitiveness. (CAR)
TL;DR: Fuzzy scores allow the decision maker to use scores of technical efficiency in combination with other sources of available performance information e.g. expert opinions, key figures etc. to enhance a more consistent evaluation.