Hidden structure: Using network methods to map system architecture

In this paper, we describe an operational methodology for characterizing the architecture of complex technical systems and demonstrate its application to a large sample of software releases. Our methodology is based upon directed network graphs, which allows us to identify all of the direct and indirect linkages between the components in a system. We use this approach to define three fundamental architectural patterns, which we label core–periphery, multi-core, and hierarchical. Applying our methodology to a sample of 1286 software releases from 17 applications, we find that the majority of releases possess a “core–periphery” structure. This architecture is characterized by a single dominant cyclic group of components (the “Core”) that is large relative to the system as a whole as well as to other cyclic groups in the system. We show that the size of the Core varies widely, even for systems that perform the same function. These differences appear to be associated with different models of development – open, distributed organizations develop systems with smaller Cores, while closed, co-located organizations develop systems with larger Cores. Our findings establish some “stylized facts” about the fine-grained structure of large, real-world technical systems, serving as a point of departure for future empirical work.     

The product market and the market for “ideas”: commercialization strategies for technology entrepreneurs

This paper presents a synthetic framework identifying the central drivers of start-up commercialization strategy and the implications of these drivers for industrial dynamics. We link strategy to the commercialization environment—the microeconomic and strategic conditions facing a firm that is translating an “idea” into a value proposition for customers. The framework addresses why technology entrepreneurs in some environments undermine established firms, while others cooperate with incumbents and reinforce existing market power. Our analysis suggests that competitive interaction between start-up innovators and established firms depends on the presence or absence of a “market for ideas”. By focusing on the operating requirements, efficiency, and institutions associated with markets for ideas, this framework holds several implications for the management of high-technology entrepreneurial firms.     

Brokerage and balance: Creating an effective organizational interface for product modularization in multinational R&D

Despite numerous studies on modularity, the modularization processes have received less attention. In the global context, product modularity can be leveraged to satisfy heterogeneous market requirements across countries with low costs. Through a longitudinal case study of HomeTech, we examined how multinational R&D created an effective organizational interface to facilitate recombination of its organizational units, and thus product modularization. We found that three elements of an organizational interface were established through a process composed of three phases in HomeTech R&D: regional concentration, establishing a module pool, and creating architecture leader posts. We also found that the three elements exerted the balancing effect and the brokerage effect so that the organizational interface was effective in facilitating recombination of organizational units. We contribute to the literature through showing how organizational modularity can affect product modularity within a firm. We also reveal the critical role of architecture leaders in product modularization. Finally, we enrich the organizational interface concept by highlighting the combination of elements.     

The power of integrality: Linkages between product architecture, innovation, and industry structure

A substantial literature stream suggests that many products are becoming more modular over time, and that this development is often associated with a change in industry structure towards higher degrees of specialization. These developments can have strong implications for an industry's competition as the history of the PC industry illustrates. To add to our understanding of the linkages between product architecture, innovation, and industry structure we develop detailed product architecture measurements based on a previously proposed method [Fixson, S.K., 2005. Product architecture assessment: a tool to link product, process, and supply chain design decisions. Journal of Operations Management 23 (3/4), 345-369] and study an unusual case in which a firm - through decreasing its product modularity - turned its formerly competitive industry into a near-monopoly. Using this case study we explore how existing theories on modularity explain the observed phenomenon, and show that most consider technological change in rather long-term dimensions, and tend to focus on efficiency-related arguments to explain the resulting forces on competition. We add three critical aspects to the theory that connects technological change and industry dynamics. First, we suggest integrating as a new design operator to explain product architecture genesis. Second, we argue that a finer-grained analysis of the product architecture shows the existence of multiple linkages between product architecture and industry structure, and that these different linkages help explain the observed intra-industry heterogeneity across firms. Third, we propose that the firm boundary choice can also be a pre-condition of the origin of architectural innovation, not only an outcome of efficiency considerations.     

Leadership and organizational innovation in the third sector: A systematic literature review

The impact of the global recession has served to increase pressure on non-profit organizations resources. Executive leadership is an essential component of the success of these institutions. The two-fold purpose of this article is to provide a state-of-the-art overview about the existing literature on leadership and organizational innovation in the third sector, as well as to identify research gaps leading to a research model, which can be used in further empirical research. For this, we used the collection of existing literature in the Web of Science. The 144 articles selected in the database were analysed using the VOSviewer software. Results show a concern with the renewal of management bodies and a lack of qualified leaders. This study contributes to the construction of an action agenda leading to the establishment of new leadership and organizational innovation model for the third sector.     

The role of feedback in changing organizational routine: A case study of Haier,China

The ability to change organizational routines according to the need of organizational transformation is difficult to achieve, but increasingly vital for an organization to survive in a highly turbulent business environment. However, despite fruitful research on organizational routines, how routines evolve through feedback remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the role of feedback in routine changes by examining a case study of Haier, the largest home appliance manufacturer in the world. The findings of this case show that feedback of a routine plays a critical role in routine changes. It highlights that feedback helps an organization to make sense of its behavior patterns and evaluate these patterns properly, which enable the organizations to better initiate and advocate routine changes that are necessary for a successful organizational transformation. Further, this case shows the importance of leveraging IT in managing routine changes.     

Organizational knowledge creation and the generation of new product ideas: A behavioral approach

In this paper, we address the pre-project phase of idea generation in the product innovation process, where the effective generation of new product ideas still remains an issue of high relevance for both management scholars and practitioners. We relate Nonaka and colleagues’ four knowledge creation modes of socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization to the novelty of product ideas generated. Taking a behavioral perspective on the four modes, we posit positive relationships between socialization as well as internalization and the novelty of product ideas, whereas we postulate negative relationships for externalization as well as combination. Using data from multiple respondents in 33 companies, our results confirm the proposed linkages.     

心理资本与知识型员工组织承诺的关系探讨

针对知识型员工流失率过高的问题,提出了心理资本对知识型员工感情承诺和持续承诺影响的理论框架模型.分析表明,心理资本的各变量与知识型员工感情承诺正相关,与其持续承诺负相关.     

Persistence of innovation: Discriminating between types of innovation and sources of state dependence

This paper advances current research on the persistence of innovation drawing on a panel data set constructed from three waves of the German part of the Community Innovation Survey covering the time span from 2002 to 2008 (i.e., CIS IV, CIS 2007, and CIS 2009). We explore persistence patterns for various types of innovation (i.e., organizational, product and process innovation) and allowing for the moderating impact of firm-level characteristics. We use the ascertained patterns of persistence to comparatively evaluate various sources (and underlying theoretical accounts) of state dependence.     

Organizational justice and management trustworthiness during organizational Change: Interactions of Benevolence,Integrity, and managerial approaches

Trust and justice play an important role in the process of organizational change to build dynamic capabilities for sustainable competitive advantage. This study investigated the interaction effects of management's benevolence trustworthiness and integrity trustworthiness on employees’ perception of procedural justice during innovation or organizational change. Both the scenario and the field study showed that the patterns of the interaction effects of these two components of trustworthiness are further influenced in a complementary manner by different innovation approaches. The study indicated that the relationships between benevolence trustworthiness and integrity trustworthiness are far more complex than expected and thus need more research efforts.     

Innovators and imitators: Organizational reference groups and adoption of organizational routines

Firms vary greatly in their rates of creating and adopting technological and organizational innovations, in part because of their choice of reference group. We argue that the selection of a reference group is a crucial and neglected source of firm heterogeneity. Comparisons to the average of other firms in a population cause most firms to adopt innovations once they are widely accepted. A distinctive feature of the minority of innovating firms that create innovations or adopt them early is that they compare themselves with, compete with, and try to differ from other innovating firms, whereas the majority of firms compare themselves with, and conform to, a broader group of firms. We elaborate this argument based on the behavioral theory of the firm and institutional theory, and test it on a two-period survey on adoptions of innovative organizational forms in Europe and the US. The analysis shows the predicted differences in the adoption patterns of innovating and imitating firms.     

组织冗余对产品创新的作用机制研究

组织冗余对于创新的影响目前仍然存有争议。一方面,不同类别组织冗余的作用会有所区别,现有研究不加分类分析和验证它们作用的做法值得商榷;另一方面,相关研究很少涉及作用机理的验证,这导致那些关于组织冗余为何有利或者有害的观点仅停留在猜测阶段;第三,大企业组织冗余的作用和小企业的会有区别,而现有研究很少探讨不同规模情境下组织冗余作用的变化。鉴于此,本文以组织行为理论为基础,引入组织搜索(本地搜索和跨界搜索)作为中介变量,试图展现组织冗余对产品创新的作用路径以及企业规模所起的调节作用,并选择江浙皖三省六地科技型企业为样本对所提模型进行验证,对423份有效问卷数据进行多元线性回归分析后发现:一、沉淀冗余和产品创新显著正相关,非沉淀冗余对产品创新的影响并不显著;二、本地搜索和跨界搜索在沉淀冗余和产品创新之间均发挥部分中介效应,非沉淀冗余和产品创新关系不显著,二者间不会有中介变量存在;三、企业规模对沉淀冗余、非沉淀冗余和产品创新之间关系均存在显著的负向调节效应。本文研究结果有助打开组织冗余和产品创新关系的黑箱,为组织冗余存在形式的情境化选择提供重要依据和参考,同时佐证了那些不加分类、笼统分析组织冗余作用的做法是不科学的。     

如何领导组织学习：家长式领导与组织学习的关系/FONT

为了对我国企业领导者领导组织学习提供指导,研究了家长式领导与组织学习的关系。通过问卷调查法得到10家企业的276份有效问卷。结构方程建模的结果显示,家长式领导的仁慈领导对组织学习的六个维度都有显著的推动作用,而威权领导对团体学习、组织间学习、开发式学习和利用式学习具有显著的阻碍作用。这启发我国企业领导者要继续保持仁慈的传统文化理念和行为风格,尽量避免威权领导。     

Institutional changes and the commercialization of academic knowledge: A study of Italian universities’ patenting activities between 1965 and 2002

This paper focuses on Italian universities’ patenting activities between 1965 and 2002 and on the way they were affected by internal IPR regulations, set as part of broader responses to the increased level of autonomy granted to universities during the 1990s. Our analyses are based on a unique dataset including detailed information on all patents filed by Italian universities and university-level characteristics. Results show that: (1) in the last 10 years, the number of Italian university patents rose substantially; (2) patenting activities almost tripled in universities with an internal IPR regulation, after controlling for several universities’ characteristics, previous patenting activity and time trends; (3) each time a university creates its own patent regulation, there is a 9% increase in the likelihood that universities without any internal patent regulation will adopt one. Implications for university technology transfer policies are discussed.     

企业技术联盟的组织形式及选择

项目型联盟是企业技术联盟的最常见形式，在组织结构特点上体现为各成员交叉管理、交叉合作作业与资源交叉依附；企业技术联盟的组织形式还有其它9种，联盟企业应根据它们的不同特点与自身不同情况，选择最适宜的组织形式。     

Critical capabilities for effective management of complementarity between product and process innovation: Cases from the food and drink industry

The management of the complementarity between product and process innovation has been discussed for five decades. The most recent advancement in the conceptual development uncovered different extents of complementarities occurring between product and process innovation at the project level. Prior literature suggested that facilitating a better interplay between these two types of innovation holds the potential for the development of a long-lasting competitive advantage. Despite its theoretical and managerial importance, management of new product and process development (NPPD) projects with different extents of complementarity between product and process innovation remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we adopt perspectives from contingency theory and dynamic capabilities. Building upon Hullova, Trott and Simms’s (2016) classification of complementarities we investigate the management of different complementarity types in four NPPD projects in the UK food and drink industry. We introduce empirically derived framework for effective management of NPPD projects with different extents of complementarity between product and process innovation. The framework identifies three critical capabilities and associated activities; 1) identifying the complexity and novelty of the project and assessment of internal and external resources and knowledge stocks, 2) deploying the most suitable integration mechanism(s) for the identified complementarity type and 3) leveraging of the knowledge learned and experience acquired during the project. Jointly, these three intertwined capabilities act as a complementarity management tool for product and process development managers, enabling them to manage their NPPD projects portfolios more effectively.     

Innovating strategically in information and knowledge management: Applications of organizational behavior theory

A business school declares its strategy as becoming a leading European institution. As main vehicle for achieving recognition is the implementation of a top-down strategy naming five academic fields as key – (a) finance, (b) economics, (c) marketing, (d) law, accounting, and auditing, and (e) organizational behavior (OB). Top management allocates resources for research, academic activities, and positions to these five strategically chosen areas. Academic areas that are not strategically named must generate their own income through educational programs and research grants. Can OB serve as the platform to ensure the survival of IS/KMS? In our analysis, we found no other business school formulating a strategy along these lines; dominating strategic themes are internationalization, research excellence, and student environment. No academic field is singled out as strategic. We argue that selecting a few academic areas as a strategy is dysfunctional. We also found that OB is not very actively employed in research, be it positioning, theory, research model, analysis, or discussion. Hence, we do not find that OB offers any theorizing help to IS/KMS – this in contrast to innovation and change theories, for which we propose an framework as a means of defining IS/KMS research projects.     

From closed to open: Job role changes,individual predispositions,and the adoption of commercial open source software development

When trying to attain the benefits of open source software (OSS), proprietary closed source software (PCSS) firms are struggling to adopt this radically different practice of software development. We approach these adoption challenges as a problem of gaining support for organizational innovation. Through a mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative interviews and a survey of employees of a large telecommunications firm, we find that the organizational innovation to commercially engage in OSS has different impacts on technical and administrative dimensions of different job roles. Accordingly, individuals enacting different job roles are—on average—more or less well aligned with the OSS practice and OSS processes per se. We find that individual-level attributes can counterbalance the job role changes that weaken support for adopting OSS, while perceived organizational commitment has no effect. Suggestions for PCSS firms are presented and implications for innovation literature are discussed.     

Social media mining for product planning: A product opportunity mining approach based on topic modeling and sentiment analysis

Social media data have recently attracted considerable attention as an emerging voice of the customer as it has rapidly become a channel for exchanging and storing customer-generated, large-scale, and unregulated voices about products. Although product planning studies using social media data have used systematic methods for product planning, their methods have limitations, such as the difficulty of identifying latent product features due to the use of only term-level analysis and insufficient consideration of opportunity potential analysis of the identified features. Therefore, an opportunity mining approach is proposed in this study to identify product opportunities based on topic modeling and sentiment analysis of social media data. For a multifunctional product, this approach can identify latent product topics discussed by product customers in social media using topic modeling, thereby quantifying the importance of each product topic. Next, the satisfaction level of each product topic is evaluated using sentiment analysis. Finally, the opportunity value and improvement direction of each product topic from a customer-centered view are identified by an opportunity algorithm based on product topics’ importance and satisfaction. We expect that our approach for product planning will contribute to the systematic identification of product opportunities from large-scale customer-generated social media data and will be used as a real-time monitoring tool for changing customer needs analysis in rapidly evolving product environments.