To Frame or Reframe: Where Might Design Thinking Research Go Next?

Design thinking is gaining widespread attention in the practitioner and academic literature. Successful implementation has been documented, and its value shown in empirical studies. There is little examination, however, of how design thinking practices fit with other approaches from which firms might choose to frame and solve problems such as agile, lean startup, scientific method, Six Sigma, critical thinking, and systems thinking. By digging into the basic capabilities underlying design thinking, academic researchers might better understand problem framing and solving in general and provide insight for practitioners as to where alternative approaches might be applied

Regional Business Networks and the Multinational Retail Sector

In this paper we examine the network relationships of a set of large retail multinational enterprises (MNEs). We analyze under what conditions a flagship-network strategy (characterized by a network of five partners – the MNE; key suppliers; key partners; selected competitors; and key organisations in the non-business infrastructure) explains the internationalisation of three retailers whose geographic scope, sectoral conditions and competitive strategies differ substantially. We explore why and when retailers will adopt a flagship strategy. The three firms are Tesco and The Body Shop, two U.K.-based multinational retailers, and Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), a French-based global retailer. We find evidence of strong network relationships for all three retailers, yet they embrace network strategies for different reasons. Their flagship relationships depend on each retailer’s strategic use of firm-specific-advantages (FSAs) and country-specific advantages (CSAs). We find that a flagship strategy succeeds in overcoming internal and/or environmental constraints to cross-border resource transfers, which are barriers to foreign direct investment (FDI). We provide recommendations on why and when to use a flagship-based strategy and which type of network partners to prioritize in order to succeed internationally.international retailing, flagship strategy, networks, LVMH, Tesco, The Body Shop, multinational, firm-specific advantages, regional strategy

Alliance Coordination, Dysfunctions, and the Protection of Idiosyncratic Knowledge in Strategic Learning Alliances

In high technology industries firms use strategic learning alliances to create value that can’t be created alone. While they open their interorganizational membrane to gain new skills and competences, generate new products and services, accelerate development speed, and enter into new markets their idiosyncratic knowledge base may be impaired when knowledge related dysfunctions like the unintended knowledge transfer, asymmetric learning speed or premature closing occur. Within a value approach we examine the interplay of alliance coordination activities that enhance value creation, emerging knowledge related dysfunctions, and formal and organizational protections measures which shall safeguard firms intellectual crown jewels. We tested our hypotheses with a sample of 111 strategic alliances of young technology based Enterprises (YTBEs) with competing partners in high and key technology industries. Our findings suggest that a focal firm’s alliance management is well advised to intensely coordinate the alliance and to be aware of dysfunctional tendencies that erode alliance value. Since organizational protection measures could exaggerate dysfunctional effects they should be deployed very deliberately on a modest level. Formal protections measures, in contrast, seem to aggravate coordination activities’ value creation effect by setting behavioral guidelines. Moreover, an unsuccessful negotiation process of formal protection agreements may allow a deselection of partners that would not obey others intellectual property interests. Finally, we highlight theoretical and managerial implications that arise from these findings. --Strategic Learning Alliance,Protection

The influence of organisational culture and organisational control on the diffusion of a management information system

The aim of this thesis is to provide an original interpretative understanding of the role of organisational culture and organisational control on the diffusion of a Management Information Systems (MIS). An extensive literature review has revealed a lack of synthesis between organisational culture and organisational control in the understanding of diffusion of an MIS. The literature review was two-fold: firstly, to examine the impact of organisational culture on IS diffusion and, secondly, to examine the impact of organisational control on IS diffusion. The first stage of the review revealed that there are a number of studies on IS diffusion in relation to culture at the organisational level but a relatively fewer studies at the sub-organisational or subcultural level. The second stage of the review highlights that there is also a significant number of studies that have applied the control concept to investigating phenomena related to IS diffusion, e.g. IT adoptions and IT implementations, but very few have explicitly applied the control concept to IT implementations outcomes, i.e. IT diffusion. The review also suggested that there is scarce empirical research on IS diffusion from the twin perspectives of culture and control. Using an interpretive case study approach, this thesis was able to collect rich data, underpinned by Martin’s (1992) conceptualisation of organisational culture, i.e. integration and differentiation, and Kirsch's (1997) and Ouchi's (1979) conceptualisation of organisational controls. These conceptualisations served as interpretive lenses to unearth the dynamic relationship of the application of formal controls on diverging subcultures during staff interactions and use of an MIS during the adaptation, acceptance and routinization stages of Cooper and Zmud's (1990) IT Implementation Model. The thesis' results highlight a number of contributions to knowledge. Firstly, a contribution is made in the area of IS diffusion research by proposing a conceptual model for IS diffusion. The model offers explanations on how IS diffusion could be achieved despite the existence of diverging subcultures when formal control mechanisms are applied, an implication that suggests that the IS diffusion path may not be smooth and linear but an iterative process. Secondly, a contribution is made in the area of organisational culture and organisational control theories. This thesis' results indicate that during the implementation of an MIS, staffespoused cultural values changed, highlighting that the culture may not be always stable, and difficult to change. The thesis helps re-conceptualise the existing typology on outcome control by indicating that outcome control, which is conceptualised as deliberate and forceful in nature, could also, unlike behaviour control, be exercised in measures that do not need to coerce or be forceful. Further, the thesis highlights that sanctions rather than rewards were more effective in the application of controls during the diffusion attempts of an IS. Finally, the research contributes to knowledge in the area of practice. This study provides insights on how managers may apply organisational controls to align diverging subgroup members' actions towards integrative behaviours during an IS implementation process, therefore facilitating the attainment of successful IS diffusion

Boundaryless Management - Creating, transforming and using knowledge in inter-organizational collaboration. A literature review

Current literature on organizations often argues that firms are becoming increasingly dependent on knowledge residing outside their own boundaries requiring organizations to increase their entrepreneurial abilities and make their boundaries more flexible and permeable. This paper reviews the literature on what might be called interorganizational knowledge work. Implied in this focus is an assumption of clear organizaitonal boundaries. Rather than taking these boundaries and their importance for granted, the current review, however, aims at relativizing these boundaries. By focusing the empirical phenomenon of collaboration between individuals in different organizations, four different streams of literature with different constructions of the organizational boundary and its importance were identified: the literature on learning in alliances and joint ventures, the literature on collaboration in industrial networks, the literature on social networks and communities of practice and finally the literature on geographical clusters and innovation systems. The above four streams of the literature are reviewed with a special focus on the following three questions: 1. What is the role of (organizational) boundaries in interorganizational knowledge work? 2. What do we know about how these boundaries can be overcome? 3. What are the implications for managing interorganizational knowledge work spelled out in the literature?Interorganizational collaboration; Knowledge Management; Literature review

Global convergence of consumer spending: Conceptualization and propositions

The convergence versus divergence debate has persistently presented a puzzle in the scholarly literature. Forces of globalization created a wave of convergence. Yet, the recent worldwide events have changed the course of globalization, slowing its seemingly unavoidable forward direction. It is, therefore, incumbent upon international business scholars to reexamine the convergence versus divergence debate in the contemporary world economy. Despite the central role that global convergence plays in international business decisions, the literature is lacking a conceptualization of the convergence construct in terms of consumer spending behavior. Offering a new perspective derived from the convergence-divergence-crossvergence (CDC) framework and the coevolution theory, the authors define and conceptualize the convergence construct associated with consumer spending behavior. The proposed conceptual framework is comprehensive, offers refinements to the convergence phenomenon, and leads the way for further development of new theories in the international marketing domain

Influence Costs in Agribusiness Cooperatives: Evidence from Case Studies

This article addresses the influence costs problem in the governance structure ‘agribusiness cooperative.’ Influence costs are higher in cooperatives than in investor-oriented firms due to the unique governance structure of the former. Hypotheses are formulated and tested regarding the relationship between influence costs and seven variables: membership size, member heterogeneity, average member age, singleness of purpose, managerial power over members, level of managerial compensation, and professional versus inside management. The main results are that heterogeneous member preferences, older average member age, and investment in multiple product lines all contribute to higher influence costs. At the same time, cooperatives with well-paid, powerful and professional managers incur lower influence costs. The impact of membership size on the level of influence costs is undetermined

Inconsistent and Incongruent Frames During IT-enabled Change: An Action Research Study into Sales Process Innovation

Integrating research on the social construction of technology and social cognitive processes in organizations, technology frame of reference (TFR) theory has helped researchers investigate how stakeholder groups perceive information systems practices and opportunities, how these perceptions shift over time, and, how stakeholders may impact or leverage them to facilitate change. Such insights are particularly important in dynamic environments where individuals, groups, and organizations face a constant challenge to make sense of and respond to how industries undergo change, information technologies (IT) evolve, and new opportunities to transform processes and products emerge. Still, although extant research provides detailed accounts of TFR dynamics between groups, we know little about TFR dynamics in groups and about how intra- and inter-group TFRs interact during IT-enabled change. Accordingly, we report on an action research project in which we relied on TFR theory to assist organizational innovators in a rapidly growing mobile phone company, VoiceTech, during a sales force automation (SFA) project. Consistent with current TFR studies, our analyses reveal how the SFA project implicated frame incongruences between different stakeholder groups. In addition, our analyses reveal important inconsistencies in how individual groups framed the SFA project and consequential interactions between the observed inconsistencies and incongruences over time. Based on these findings, we argue that inconsistencies and incongruences in stakeholders’ technological frames play equally important but quite distinct and interacting roles during IT-enabled change. As a result, we extend current TFR theory with a nuanced account of how IT-enabled change efforts implicate these two fundamental characteristics of framing processes. In conclusion, we discuss the empirical and theoretical contributions to TFR theory and highlight implications for future research and for the management of IT-enabled change in dynamic contexts