Grenoble School of Management

About: Grenoble School of Management is a education organization based out in Grenoble, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Business model. The organization has 359 authors who have published 1167 publications receiving 23515 citations. The organization is also known as: Grenoble École de management.

Managing the manufacturing–R&D interface in the process industries

Abstract: In the perspective of value creation and capture, firms in the future must not only be excellent in developing commodities or innovative functional products; they must also be able to manufacture them in a competitive cost structure within the framework of a proper business model. Deploying a conceptual model of the material transformation system in the process industries, the relationship between firms' manufacturing and innovation activities has been explored in three case studies representing the food, mineral and steel industries. Using the methodology of Quality Function Deployment, each firm's position on the model structure has been condensed into a matrix relating the manufacturing system's characterizing variables to the firm's raw material innovation, innovation of process technology and product innovation. The importance of the area of process innovation stands out in all these firms, and among the individual variables ‘product flexibility’ ranked highest in all of them. It is recommended that in the development of corporate innovation strategies, the product–market perspective ought to be supplemented by a process–manufacturing perspective. Combining the information from both perspectives and striking a proper balance ought to be beneficial in overbridging the manufacturing–R&D interface.

Do Smartphones Make for Smarter Business? The Smartphone CEO Study

Abstract: Technology has played a role in human affairs including business for millennia—starting with the lighting of the first fire, the carving of ideograms on the walls of caves, and inventing the first round artifact that would eventually serve as a wheel. In that regard, “smartphones” (are intelligent, wireless, rich-media technologies in the service of smarter business (or SKARSE™-enabled business) (Carayannis, GWU Lectures, 2010)) are the latest developments in a long line of predecessors some illustrious and some infamous; however, there is a qualitative as well as quantitative difference in where, how, and why smartphones make a difference in people’s professional and personal lives. We have tried in this research to empirically document the ways and means that smartphones impact people’s productivity and efficacy at work by conducting a series of semi-structured interviews with top level executives from businesses across a wide swath of business sectors. Our findings further corroborate the presence, role, and impact of what we call “happy accidents” (Carayannis, Industry & Higher Education 22(6): 1–11, 2008) in terms of a strategic knowledge serendipity and arbitrage (SKARSE™ (is a trademarked term of art owned by Carayannis and Clark as of June 2010.)) (ibid) as factors shaping and even driving choices made by business leaders and managers with strategic intent and implications.

The Four-Sided Triangle of Ethics in Bioprospecting: Pharmaceutical Business, International Politics, Socio-Environmental Responsibility and the Importance of Local Stakeholders

Abstract: Bioprospecting, a vital step in the pharmaceutical production process, is also one of the most controversial and socially complex aspects in the pharmaceutical industry. The current conceptual paper reviews and theorizes this controversial sector by laying out the key elements of social, political and economic conflict involved in bioprospecting, from the point of view of the diverse stakeholders involved in the activity. First, we discuss the bioprospecting phenomenon as a high-risk, initial-stage research and development (R&D) activity that involves ethical, legal and economic uncertainties. After describing these uncertainties, we show how they are exacerbated by the unique cognitive frames that the main actors in this area – private companies, government actors, social and environmental activists, and local communities – use in framing the motives, norms, and rights surrounding bioprospecting. Juxtaposing actors in this way allows an opening for potential dialogue among the different stakeholders, and we follow our exposition by sketching a model for increased cooperation. Our model highlights the unique contributions of each actor, suggesting that a socially responsible form of natural resource use can promote both local and global benefits. Lastly, we discuss how bioprospecting can be utilized as a key tool in ethnobiological conservation efforts by aiding local stakeholders in the creation of economic value for their traditional knowledge and environmental assets.

Introduction to the Special Issue: A Macromarketing Perspective on Alternative Economies

Abstract: Alternative economies respond to the precarious conditions underpinning the everyday lives of individuals, and their lack of access to and scarcity of resources and competences. Recently there has been increasing interest in the field of macromarketing towards such alternative forms of exchange and marketplaces. Nonetheless, current understandings of alternative economies remain fragmented. The objective of this special issue is to advance our understanding of alternative economies and stimulate future research within this domain. Seven articles are included in this special issue of the Journal of Macromarketing. Each article presents forward-looking research exploring one of three aspects of alternative economies: (1) the paradigms used within alternative economies, (2) the institutional logics that guide action within these systems and (3) the implications to individuals, localities, markets, and society. The editors of the special issue briefly introduce the topic, provide a definition of alternative economies, offer an overview of the articles and their contributions, and direction for future research bringing together alternative economies and macromarketing.

Change in domestic network centrality, uncertainty, and the foreign divestment decisions of firms

Abstract: We investigate the role of domestic interfirm networks for the foreign divestment decisions of firms. We argue that firms’ foreign operations risk being divested when a firm becomes more central in its domestic network. Positive changes in firm centrality at home facilitate access to information about new business opportunities, but they may also lead firms to consider reconfiguring their value chain activities and resources across locations. The resulting opportunity costs of maintaining foreign operations could subsequently lead to their divestment. Moreover, we argue that the positive association between an increase in firm centrality in the domestic network and foreign divestment is stronger under higher uncertainty, as pursuing new business opportunities at home becomes more appealing. We distinguish between firm-specific uncertainty and domestic market uncertainty. We test and get support for our hypotheses using foreign subsidiary data from U.S. firms in the ICT industry.