Corporate Practices that Inhibit and Drive Innovation for Sustainability

Proposal to the Eastern Academy of Management to conduct a discussion symposium regarding a systematic review of the body of research on innovation for sustainable business

Cultivating communities of practice for innovation: What about SMEs?

Knowledge is a key factor for competitiveness and innovation for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (Handzic, 2006). However, SMEs often lack absorptive capacity because they have no formal strategy for developing, capturing, disseminating, sharing, or applying knowledge (Beijerse, 2000). It has been suggested (Wenger, 1998; Lesser and Prusak, 1999; Allee, 2000) that communities of practice (CoPs) might be an effective way to capture and share tacit knowledge as well as leverage the social capital (Lesser and Prusak, 1999) necessary for innovation (Landry, et al 2002). There is also some indication that knowledge spillovers within CoPs can strengthen their ability to exploit their innovations (Autio, et al 2008). On the other hand, SMEs often struggle to participate in open innovation, because of knowledge transfer problems caused by organisational and cultural differences (Van de Vrande, et al 2009). Given that CoPs are becoming more commonly seen as a knowledge management (KM) tool for supporting innovation (Swan, et al 2002), this paper reviews the literature on CoPs and comments on their appropriateness in the context of SMEs

Business incubation as a community of practice: an emergent cultural web

Research on business incubation has been dominated by studies exploring university-industry technology transfer and high technology accelerators. Less is known about Business Incubation Centres (BICs), specifically, how their formal and informal structures may impact upon client development. Drawing on concepts from the community of practice (CoP) literature and organizational culture, we explore if BICs can be considered to be CoPs. We also seek to unravel the key elements which underpin the culture of a BIC and how these elements may provide enabling or constraining conditions for a CoP to emerge. Through a qualitative methodology of regional based BICs in Ireland, we illustrate how the amount of time spent on campus; the nature of the working week; the scalability of the enterprise; and the capacity of the enterprise to meet the criteria associated with high potential start-ups influences clients’ perceptions of the value of BICs. We provide new theoretical insights which suggest that BICs are a CoP with a culture that can be studied, captured, and illustrated. Practical and policy implications are suggested to enhance the effectiveness of BICs for both clients and regions

Herramientas de diagnóstico del desempeño de comunidades de práctica en el sector del petróleo y gas

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Presidential leadership in higher education: balancing collaboration and competition in a time of systemic change

Research on senior leadership in higher education systems is urgently needed, particularly in the context of system‐wide transformations. This study focuses on a critical juncture in Ireland, during which Institutes of Technology (IoTs) collaborated to undergo ‘redesignation’ as Technological Universities (TUs). Based on interviews with the fourteen presidents of the IoTs, this research employs the Community of Practice framework to analyse their interactions, strategies, and approaches to a policy‐initiated, systemic change. Despite decades of pervasive competition, these senior leaders formed a community of practice as they worked collectively to achieve the common goal of TU status. Four key themes emerged: Embracing a more expansive external role; Acknowledging obstacles to collective leadership; Forming groups, collaborating and competing; and Leading calmly and fostering unity. The findings of this study advance our understanding of three interconnected fields: senior leadership practices in higher education, the interplay of collaboration and competition in higher education; and the facilitation of policy‐induced systemic change within higher education systems. Our findings have significant implications for institutional leaders, policymakers and scholars aiming to comprehend and improve leadership practices in higher education

A community of practice or a working psychological group? Group dynamics in core and peripheral community participation

The concept of communities of practice (CoP) has become increasingly influential in management literature. Yet, many scholars regard the term as too homogenous and lacking in empirical support. Our study explores the Silver Academy, a project involving over 100 unemployed and self-employed managers over the age of 50, who came together with the purpose of sharing knowledge and experience in starting up their own businesses. The study shows how the Academy matches the notion of CoP including mutual relationships, shared engagement and a common consensus of membership. However, applying Bion’s (1961) theory of groups, we challenge the homogenous and consensual notion of a community of practice, illustrating how, through unconscious group processes, some group members exhibit workgroup mentality and the capacity for realistic hard work (and leadership), while others are caught in a basic-assumption mentality, prone to feelings of anxiety, guilt and depression. This is particularly so for a group that has gone through the recent trauma of unemployment

Aportación de las comunidades virtuales a la gestión del conocimiento en el sector financiero

En el contexto de transformación digital actual, las organizaciones consideran los procesos de intercambio de conocimiento y de aprendizaje cada vez más cruciales para su éxito. En este contexto las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación juegan un papel importante. En este artículo, se ha hallado que las comunidades virtuales constituyen una herramienta útil para compartir conocimiento, para la innovación y se analizan diversos casos en el sector financiero español, donde se han utilizado las tecnologías de la información para apoyarlas, con diversos grados de éxito. Así se ha comprobado que las comunidades virtuales han contribuido al desarrollo de numerosos productos y servicios según las necesidades de los clientes y a mejorar las buenas prácticas en la organización, así como la formación de los empleados. Crear un entorno propicio para que tanto clientes como empleados participen en las comunidades compartiendo experiencias o necesidades es sin duda primordial. Y desde el punto de vista tecnológico las herramientas Web 2.0 constituyen un instrumento primordial para implementar dichas comunidades con el fin de mejorar la gestión del conocimiento, la innovación y los resultados en los servicios financieros. En el presente articulo se propone un esquema conceptual basado en la relación de tres ámbitos de investigación, las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, haciendo un énfasis especial sobre las herramientas Web 2.0, la creación y el intercambio de conocimiento y las comunidades virtuales. Se aportan datos de las tres principales entidades financieras españolas, es decir, Banco Santander, BBVA y CaixaBank. Los resultados obtenidos muestran cómo se crea y comparte conocimiento, a partir de las comunidades virtuales y que posteriormente se adopta en dichas entidades; y que el proceso de creación y compartición de conocimiento influye positivamente en las entidades dado que: acelera el desarrolla e implantación de nuevos productos y servicios financieros, intensifica la innovación de la entidad y mejora las relaciones con los clientes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Online Communities of Practice in the Contact Center Environment: Factors that Influence Participation

Knowledge is a critical element of competitive advantage. More specifically, tribal knowledge developed by workers from on-the-job experiences is of significant value and is also one of the most difficult forms of knowledge to capture and leverage across the workforce. In an effort to capture, store, and share tribal knowledge, organizations have begun to adopt a concept of social learning known as communities of practice. However, low participation by community members in many organizations has resulted in mediocre results. This has been particularly evident in the contact center environment, which has its own unique culture and challenges. Without a solid knowledge and understanding of the motivators, enablers, and barriers of participation critical to the adoption of and participation in contact center communities of practice, organizations often struggle to achieve sufficient gains in competitive advantage and efficiencies to justify the investment in such an intervention. Five research objectives guide the research in this study to identify the specific motivators, enablers, and barriers to participation in communities of practice in the contact center environment. The objectives break out participation in terms of passive use of information provided by others and active contribution of knowledge to the community. Through an exploratory-sequential, mixed methods design, the research presented serves as a cross-sectional, non-experimental study of a finite population of nearly 9,000 customer service representatives in a large organization with contact centers across the United States. The first stage involved qualitative focus group interviews with a small sample of participants across the different lines of business supported by the centers and was followed by a quantitative survey in the second stage. The study revealed that contact centers have many factors of participation in common with other organizations studied previously. However, it also revealed some stark differences, especially in terms of enablers and barriers to participation. The type of work and the way in which time is managed in the contact center world represented key factors specific to the environment. In addition, the team structures and the infrastructure supporting a company-wide community of practice were also significant factors that drove participation either up or down. The study provides initial research into the specifics of the contact center environment. However, additional research with other organizations and industries is needed to further validate the findings of this study

Exploring corporate value chain responsibility in environments shaped by complexity, fragmented sustainability governance and changing stakeholder expectations

Companies are increasingly expected to take responsibility for negative effects related to their value creation activities. In this doctoral dissertation, the responsibility a business firm has for the harmful social, ecological and economic effects stemming from its value creation activities is subsumed under the notion of value chain responsibility (VCR). Taking value chain responsibility is already a challenging and continuous endeavor. Yet, to complicate matters further, the external environment in which companies are running their value creation activities and VCR efforts is complex and challenging. In more detail, this dissertation focuses on two phenomena in the firm’s environment which considerably affect its VCR activities: the fragmentation of sustainability governance and the changing VCR expectations of stakeholders. Fragmented sustainability governance describes how the regulatory environment in which firms operate their business and conduct VCR activities is increasingly shaped by multiple and different governance actors (such as NGOs and companies) and governance instruments (such as voluntary sustainability standards and schemes). This fragmentation of the ‘rules of the game’ for businesses can have ambivalent consequences for the company’s capability to take VCR. Changing VCR expectations of stakeholders describe how stakeholders draw attention to detrimental social, ecological and economic issues affiliated with the firm’s value chain operations and thus demand action from the firm to resolve precisely these issues. Both phenomena have in common that they a) require the firm to draw attention to changes in its external environment and b) potentially result in or call for internal changes within the firm, e.g. regarding the way a firm manages its business operations and addresses sustainability challenges. Against this background, the overall objective of this paper-based dissertation is to expand our understanding how companies can take value chain responsibility in environments shaped by complexity, fragmented sustainability governance and changing stakeholder expectations. The four individual papers of this dissertation provide distinct contributions for academia and corporate practice: Paper I provides a mapping of the scholarly literature on the phenomenon of fragmented sustainability governance, sheds light on different facets of this phenomenon and illustrates management practices to deal with fragmented sustainability governance. Paper II elaborates on explanatory factors that help us understand the fragmentation of sustainability governance in the empirical case of the global gold sector. Paper III explores how companies as potential governance makers and takers affect and are affected by fragmented sustainability governance. Paper IV sheds light on changing stakeholder expectations and how they might impact the internal structural and functional organization of the firm to take VCR