Value co-creation characteristics and creativity-oriented customer citizenship behavior

For the competitive advantage of service organization, it is important to improve the creative performance of human resources in the organization. For example, when employees perform creatively, in other words, if they generate novel and useful ideas, it will contribute to organizational competiveness. Therefore, there has been an increased focus in identifying its antecedents and consequences. Unfortunately, little is known about the creative performance of customers. According to service-centered dominant logic, customer is the value co-creator, it emphasizes co-opting customer involvement in the value creation process as an additional human resource. In addition, customers can be a valuable resource for service improvement efforts for firms. For instance, companies might benefit greatly from customer feedback and complaints regarding their offerings and can enhance their productivity in terms of quality and quantity. In this paper, the type of novel, creative-oriented customer behaviors highlighted in the preceding paragraph are referred to as creativity-oriented customer citizenship behaviors (CCBs). In the customer value co-creation context, creative-oriented CCBs refer to extra-role efforts by customers with regards the development of ideas about products, practices, services, and procedures that are novel and potentially useful to a firm. According to the intrinsic motivation perspective, the context in which customers create values, influences their intrinsic motivation, which in turn affects creativity-oriented CCBs. The intrinsic motivation perspective suggests that high intrinsic motivation is affected by information from both task characteristics (i.e., autonomy) and social characteristics (e.g., supplier support). Specifically, complex and challenging task characteristics such as high levels of variety, identity, significance, autonomy, and feedback are expected to increase customer intrinsic motivation. Under these conditions, customers should increase the likelihood of creativity-oriented CCBs. Therefore, customers are expected to be most creative when they experience a high level of intrinsic motivation. In contrast, complex and challenging task and social characteristics can have the opposite effect to customers. For example, in a high level of variety task, increased autonomy can lead to increased workload because they must take on related extra responsibilities and accountability. Increased workload, in turn, is expected to lead to decreased likelihood of creativity-oriented CCBs. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the impact of task characteristics and social characteristics on creativity-oriented CCBs. Furthermore, a substantial body of research has examined the possibility that creativity is affected by personal characteristics. As such, in addition to the relevant task and social characteristics, the moderating influence of several trait variables is also considered. This article makes several contributions. First, this study investigates the trade-off effect of the customer value co-creation related task and social characteristics by examining the underlying opposing mechanism of motivation and work overload. Second, this research provides a deeper understanding of contingency factors that systematically strengthen the relationships under consideration. Third, this study may indicate that companies seek to promote the creativity of their industrial customers and should design the tasks and social characteristics of their industrial customers in a way that maximizes their creativity. But, companies should be aware of the negative impact of specific tasks and social characteristics that may minimize the creativity of industrial customers

Organisation of Innovation in High-Tech Industries: Acquisitions as Means for Technology Sourcing.

Innovation activities in the semiconductor industry provide considerable challenges for technology and innovation management. In particular, firms frequently face make-or-buy decisions and such decisions have considerable management implications. The semiconductor industry has a long history of radical innovations which are taking place through distinct industry cycles of high and low demand. The paper investigates these issues for the Electronic Design Automation industry which is a specific sub-segment of the semiconductor industry. Based on database searches and structured interviews, the paper analyses empirically the reasons for make or buy decisions with regard to innovation and the level of acquisition activities of innovative small firms in the Electronic Design Automation industry. This analysis is supported by an analysis of the SEC filings of large firms in the Electronic Design Automation industry.

탐험적 혁신을 촉진하는 기업의 내·외부적 지식요인에 대한 연구

학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 공과대학 협동과정 기술경영·경제·정책전공, 2023. 2. 강진아.Exploratory innovation, which refers to the generation of something valuable by using unfamiliar knowledge obtained from exploration, has received considerable attention as an important way to gain a competitive advantage and achieve sustainable growth. The increased importance of exploratory innovation resulted in the growing interest in underlying mechanisms of innovation, such as knowledge exploration (i.e., a nonlocal search beyond the firm's current expertise) and recombinatory search framework (i.e., an analytic tool that explains the link between knowledge elements and innovation). Recently, literature on exploratory innovation has investigated a firms internal and external knowledge environments on promoting exploratory innovation with the mechanisms of innovation as an implicit premise. However, the research on exploratory innovation is still in its early stages and has focused on individual topics rather than analyzing the entire process by which a firm creates exploratory innovation. In this regard, there is room to develop the previous discussions by taking a closer look at this field. This dissertation aims to increase the academic understanding of the mechanisms of exploratory innovation by investigating two key questions: First, what characteristics of a firm's intrinsic and embedded knowledge base promote exploratory innovation?; because the knowledge base is embedded in the organization and exists in a complex form changing over time, it is necessary to consider it a dynamic collection that includes knowledge elements and their combinations rather than a simple repository of knowledge elements, Second, what is the effective way to source external knowledge among alliance partner firms to create exploratory innovation?; when considering the external knowledge environment to promote exploratory innovation, it is necessary to understand not only the compositions of external knowledge resources but also the structural factors of interfirm networks, which affect accessibility and appropriability for external knowledge resources. From the internal focus, previous research on exploratory innovation has primarily focused on investigating and explaining a firms internal knowledge base as a simple repository of knowledge elements. Concerning the structure of knowledge, only recently has research begun to investigate characteristics of a knowledge base as a network of knowledge elements. In this regard, this dissertation examines the firms internal knowledge network and its effects on the subsequent exploratory innovation. Chapter 3 suggests a theoretical framework to express a firm's knowledge base as a single network composed of knowledge elements (i.e., component knowledge) and their combinations (i.e., architectural knowledge) and investigate the dynamics of such a knowledge network over time. Specifically, Chapter 3 distinguishes accumulated component and architectural knowledge, and investigates their impact on subsequent exploratory innovation, i.e., the creation of new elements and new combinations. The uncovered relationships between the two types of accumulated knowledge and the two types of exploratory innovations, help us comprehend the dynamics of the firms knowledge network. Using patent data of 111 US semiconductor companies from 2000–2010, Chapter 3 empirically verifies an inverted U-shape relationship between the level of accumulated architectural knowledge and subsequent new knowledge combinations. As a firm accumulates experience of combining knowledge resources, new ways of knowledge application occur more frequently. This accumulated architectural knowledge helps organizational learning and broadens knowledge applicability to foster exploratory innovation. However, because of path-dependent attributes, knowledge application becomes rigid inertia that makes it harder to seek new ways. Furthermore, the relationships between accumulated component knowledge and new knowledge combinations, and between accumulated architectural knowledge and new knowledge elements were found to be positive. It shows that the accumulation of component knowledge can be essential for creating new knowledge combinations, and the accumulation of architectural knowledge also helps form new knowledge elements. In other words, learning about elements as a basis for new inventions should precede the creation of new inventions by combining elements. Additionally, accumulating knowledge from the experience of combining various elements is important to extend a firms area of expertise by gaining new knowledge elements. The results highlight the important role of the firms accumulated knowledge resources in creating exploratory innovation and contribute to the research on the antecedents of exploratory innovation. From the external focus, this dissertation investigates how the focal firm is able to effectively discover and secure the necessary knowledge in the alliance portfolio to create exploratory innovation. Previous literature has primarily focused on examining the external knowledge environment for exploratory innovation, focusing on either the compositions of knowledge resources or the structural factors affecting firms' access to them. For a holistic approach, Chapter 4 proposes a new framework of knowledge flow and search flexibility, both are essential for exploratory innovation, to simultaneously examine the effects of a firm's network position and knowledge composition of the alliance portfolio. Using this framework, Chapter 4 empirically confirms that central and brokering positions have an inverted U-shape relationship with the creation of exploratory innovation through panel data of 142 pharmaceutical companies from 1996-2010. Specifically, a central position promotes smooth knowledge flow due to the focal firms high social status, allowing it to access valuable knowledge from its partners. However, exceeding a certain level, the central position decreases search flexibility due to the constraint on decision-making caused by strong relationships. A brokering position fosters search flexibility as it allows the focal firm to control information flows. However, exceeding a certain level, the lack of absorptive capacity negatively influences knowledge flow. Chapter 4 also verifies two combinations of network position and knowledge composition advantageous for increasing exploratory innovation: a central position with partners' wide scope of new knowledge, and a brokering position with partners' wide scope of shared knowledge. These results support the argument that the effects of network position and knowledge composition can complementarily interact with each other, thus potentially compensating the negative effects on either knowledge flow or search flexibility. Specifically, new knowledge breadth can increase the low search flexibility resulting from a central position. The central position allows firms to overcome the information overflow associated with increases in new knowledge breadth. The shared knowledge breadth with partners increases absorptive capacity, which helps firms to understand each other and increases the knowledge flow that is often insufficient for firms at a brokering position. At the same time, the brokering position can prevent firms from becoming too similar to its partners, which would harm the exploration of new ideas. From these results, Chapter 4 contributes to the literature by identifying interaction effects between social network theory and the knowledge-based view and suggests implications for designing a firm's alliance strategy. Overall, this dissertation increases the understanding of the mechanism of exploratory innovation by investigating a firms internal and external factors that influence the creation of exploratory innovation. It provides the following contributions and implications. First, based on the findings of Chapter 3, this dissertation extends the literature on a firms knowledge resources as a source of innovation by revealing the relationship between knowledge elements and combinations. Applying Henderson and Clark(1990)s framework, the firms knowledge network and its subsequent exploratory innovation can be depicted to accumulated component and architectural knowledge and creation of new knowledge elements and combinations. Furthermore, by linking the firms previously formed knowledge network and its subsequent innovation, these relationships allowed us to explore the dynamics of a knowledge network in which existing elements and combinations are influencing each other to form new knowledge elements and combinations over time. Second, based on the findings of Chapter 4, this dissertation extends the literature on alliance portfolios by simultaneously employing social network theory and the knowledge-based view. Most prior studies examined the characteristics of the alliance portfolio either by focusing on structural properties such as actors network position or by focusing on nodal properties such as actors knowledge resources. However, this separation limits the understanding of inter-relational effects between the network position and the knowledge composition in alliance portfolios. This study highlights this inter-relationship and suggests that the potential disadvantageous effects originating from a firms network position can, under specific conditions, be overcome through a suitable knowledge composition. Third, this dissertation contributes to innovation literature by addressing a new approach satisfying two key factors for the creation of exploratory innovation, i.e., knowledge flow and search flexibility. Prior studies state that a knowledge flow corresponds with strong relationships, while search flexibility is associated with weak relationships. As both knowledge flow and search flexibility are required for exploration, prior studies focused on finding the optimum level of organizational integration or the relevant strategic choice. However, this dissertation claims that a particular combination between a firms network position and the knowledge composition of its alliance portfolio can complement both factors shortcomings, ultimately satisfying both key factors simultaneously.탐험적 지식을 활용해 가치 있는 것을 만들어내는 탐험적 혁신은 경쟁 우위를 확보하고 지속 가능한 성장을 이룰 수 있는 중요한 방법으로 상당한 관심을 받아왔다. 탐험적 혁신의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 지식 탐험과 재조합 검색 프레임워크와 같은 혁신의 기본 메커니즘에 대한 관심이 높아지고 있으며 최근에는 이러한 혁신 메커니즘을 바탕으로 탐험적 혁신을 촉진하는데 필요한 기업의 지식 환경에 초점을 맞춘 연구가 등장하고 있다. 그러나 탐험적 혁신에 대한 연구는 아직 초기 단계에 있으며 기업이 탐험적 혁신을 창출하는 전체 과정을 분석하기보다는 개별 주제에 초점을 맞추고 있다. 그런 점에서 이 분야는 좀 더 면밀한 연구를 통해 기존 문헌의 논의를 발전시킬 여지가 있다. 본 논문은 다음 두 가지 핵심 질문을 제시함으로써 탐험적 혁신 메커니즘에 대한 학문적 이해를 높이는 것을 목표로 한다. 첫째, "기업에 내재된 지식 기반의 어떤 특징이 탐험적 혁신을 촉진하는가?"; 기업의 지식 기반은 조직, 시스템, 사람 등에 내재되어 복잡한 형태로 존재하고 시간이 지남에 따라 변화하기 때문에 단순한 지식 요소의 저장소가 아닌 지식 요소 및 이들의 조합을 포함하는 동적 집합체라고 간주할 필요가 있다. 둘째, "탐험적 혁신을 창출하기 위해 제휴 파트너 기업들 사이에서 그들이 가진 지식을 얻는 효과적인 방법은 무엇인가?"; 탐험적 혁신을 촉진하기 위해 외부 지식 환경을 고려할 때, 외부 지식 자원의 구성뿐 아니라 외부 지식 자원의 접근성과 전유성에 영향을 미치는 기업 간 네트워크의 구조적 요인도 이해할 필요가 있다. 내부적 관점에서, 탐험적 혁신에 대한 기존 연구는 기업의 내부 지식 기반을 주로 단순한 지식 요소의 저장소로 조사하고 설명하는 데 초점을 맞추었으며 최근에서야 지식 요소의 구조적 특성을 조사하기 위한 연구가 시작되었다. 이와 관련하여 본 논문은 기업의 내부 지식 네트워크가 탐험적 혁신에 미치는 영향을 살펴본다. 제3장은 기업의 지식 기반을 요소 지식(=component knowledge)과 이들의 조합(구조 지식=architectural knowledge)으로 구성된 네트워크로 표현하고 이러한 지식 네트워크가 시간에 따라 어떻게 변화해 가는지 조사하기 위한 이론적 프레임워크를 제안한다. 구체적으로, 제3장에서는 축적된 요소 지식 및 구조 지식을 구별하고, 이로 인해 발생하는 탐험적 혁신, 즉 새로운 요소 지식 및 새로운 구조 지식(요소 지식간 새로운 조합)에 미치는 영향을 조사한다. 두 가지 유형의 축적된 지식과 두 가지 유형의 탐험적 혁신 사이의 드러나지 않은 관계는 회사의 지식 네트워크의 동적 특성을 이해하는 데 도움이 된다. 제3장에서는 2000~2010년 미국 111개 반도체 기업의 특허자료를 이용하여 축적된 구조 지식의 수준과 그에 따른 새로운 구조 지식 간의 역 U자형 관계를 실증적으로 검증한다. 기업이 지식 결합 경험을 축적함에 따라 새로운 지식 적용 방법을 발견하며, 이렇게 축적된 구조 지식은 조직 학습 및 지식 적용 가능성을 확장하여 탐험적 혁신(구조 지식의 발생)을 촉진한다. 그러나 구조 지식이 축적될수록 조직 학습의 경로 의존적 속성에 따른 경직된 관성이 생기게 되고 새로운 지식 응용 방법을 모색하는 것이 어렵게 된다. 한편으로, 축적된 요소 지식과 새로운 구조 지식, 그리고 축적된 구조 지식과 새로운 요소 지식 간의 관계는 양(+)의 방향으로 나타났다. 이는 요소 지식 축적이 새로운 지식 조합(구조 지식)을 만드는 데 필수적일 수 있으며, 구조 지식 축적이 새로운 요소 지식을 형성하는 데 도움이 된다는 것을 말해준다. 즉, 새로운 발명(지식 요소의 결합)을 하기 위해서는 개별 지식 요소에 대한 학습이 선행되어야 하며, 반대로 새로운 요소 지식을 획득함으로써 기업의 전문 영역을 확장하려면 다양한 요소 지식 결합 경험이 중요하다는 결과를 도출하였다. 이 결과는 기업이 축적한 지식 자원이 탐험적 혁신 창출에 미치는 영향을 강조하고 기존 탐험적 혁신에 대한 문헌 연구에 기여한다. 외부적 관점에서는, 어떻게 포컬 기업이 탐험적 혁신을 창출하기 위해 제휴 포트폴리오에서 필요한 지식을 효과적으로 발굴하고 확보할 수 있는지 조사한다. 기존 문헌은 탐험적 혁신을 위한 외부 지식 환경을 설명하기 위해 주로 지식 자원의 구성 또는 지식 자원 접근에 영향을 미치는 구조적 요인에 초점을 맞추어 조사하였다. 통합적 접근방식을 위해, 제4장은 기업의 네트워크 위치와 제휴 포트폴리오의 지식 구성 영향을 동시에 조사하기 위해 탐험적 혁신에 필수적인 두 가지 요소, 즉, 지식 흐름(knowledge flow)과 검색 유연성(search flexibility) 프레임워크를 제안한다. 제4장은 이러한 틀을 이용하여 1996~2010년 142개 제약회사의 패널 자료를 통해 중심 위치 및 중개 위치가 탐험적 혁신의 창출과 역 U자형 관계를 맺고 있음을 실증적으로 확인한다. 중심 위치는 높은 사회적 지위로 인해 원활한 지식 흐름을 촉진하여 파트너로부터 귀중한 지식을 접할 수 있도록 돕는다. 그러나 일정한 수준을 넘어서면 중심 위치는 강한 관계에서 발생하는 의사 결정 제약으로 인해 검색 유연성을 떨어뜨린다. 중개 위치는 포컬 기업이 정보 흐름을 제어할 수 있도록 하기 때문에 검색 유연성을 높인다. 그러나 일정 수준을 넘어서는 경우 흡수능력 부족으로 지식 흐름에 부정적인 영향을 미치게 된다. 제4장에서는 또한 탐험적 혁신을 증가시키는데 유리한 네트워크 위치와 지식 구성의 두 가지 조합, 즉 중심 위치와 넓은 범위의 새로운 지식을 보유한 파트너, 중개 위치와 넓은 범위의 공유 지식을 보유한 파트너 사이의 관계를 검증한다. 이러한 결과는 네트워크 위치와 지식 구성의 영향이 상호 보완적으로 상호 작용하여 지식 흐름 또는 검색 유연성에 대한 부정적인 영향을 잠재적으로 보상할 수 있다는 주장을 뒷받침한다. 넓은 범위의 새로운 지식은 중심 위치에서 기인하는 낮은 검색 유연성을 증가시킬 수 있다. 중심 위치의 구조적 장점을 이용해 포컬 기업은 새로운 지식의 범위가 증가할 때 발생할 수 있는 정보의 범람을 극복할 수 있다. 파트너와 넓은 범위의 지식을 공유할 경우 상대적인 흡수 능력을 증가시켜 기업이 서로를 이해하는 데 도움이 되고 중개 위치에 있는 기업에게 종종 부족한 지식 흐름을 증가시킨다. 동시에, 중개 위치는 포컬 기업이 파트너들과 너무 비슷해지는 것을 막아줌으로써 새로운 아이디어 탐구에 미칠 수 있는 부정적 영향을 줄인다. 이러한 결과로부터, 제4장은 소셜 네트워크 이론과 지식 기반 관점의 상호작용 효과를 확인함으로써 기존 문헌 연구에 기여하고 기업의 제휴 전략 설계에 대한 시사점을 제시한다. 종합하면, 본 논문은 탐험적 혁신 창출에 영향을 미치는 기업의 대내외적 지식 요인을 조사함으로써 탐험적 혁신 메커니즘에 대한 이해를 높이고 다음과 같은 시사점을 도출한다. 첫째, 본 논문은 제3장의 연구결과를 바탕으로 지식 요소와 지식 결합의 관계를 밝히고 혁신의 원천으로서의 지식 자원에 대한 기존 문헌을 확장한다. 헨더슨과 클라크(1990)의 프레임워크를 적용하면, 회사의 지식 네트워크와 탐험적 혁신은 축적된 요소 지식 및 구조 지식과 새로 발생하는 요소 지식 및 구조 지식으로 묘사될 수 있다. 이러한 관계를 통해 형성된 기업의 지식 네트워크와 혁신 창출을 연계함으로써 시간이 지남에 따라 기존 요소 지식과 구조 지식이 서로 영향을 미쳐 새로운 요소 지식 및 구조 지식을 형성하는 지식 네트워크의 동적 특성을 탐색할 수 있었다. 둘째, 본 논문은 제4장의 연구결과를 바탕으로 소셜 네트워크 이론과 지식기반 관점을 동시에 적용하여 제휴 포트폴리오에 대한 기존 문헌을 확장한다. 많은 선행 연구는 행위자의 네트워크 위치와 같은 구조적 특성에 초점을 맞추거나 행위자의 지식 자원과 같은 노드적 특성에 초점을 맞추어 제휴 포트폴리오 특성을 조사하였다. 그러나 제휴 포트폴리오에서 네트워크 위치와 지식 구성 간 상호 관계에 대한 연구는 제한적이었다. 본 연구는 이러한 상호 관계를 초점을 맞추고, 특정 조건 하에서는 기업의 네트워크 위치에서 비롯되는 부정적 영향을 적절한 파트너의 지식 구성을 통해 극복할 수 있음을 시사한다. 셋째, 본 논문은 탐험적 혁신 창출을 위한 두 가지 핵심 요소, 지식 흐름과 검색 유연성을 만족시켜야 한다는 새로운 논의를 제안함으로써 기존 혁신 문헌연구에 기여한다. 이전 연구에서 지식 흐름은 강한 관계에서 발현하기 쉽고 검색 유연성은 약한 관계에 비롯된다고 말한다. 탐험적 혁신을 위해서는 지식 흐름과 검색 유연성이 모두 요구되기 때문에 선행연구는 최적의 조직통합 수준이나 적절한 전략적 선택을 찾는 데 초점을 맞췄다. 그러나 본 논문은 제휴 포트폴리오에서 포컬 기업의 네트워크 위치와 파트너 지식 구성 간 특정 조합이 두 요소의 단점을 보완하여 궁극적으로 두 가지 핵심 요소를 동시에 만족시킬 수 있음을 밝힌다.Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Research objectives 8 1.3 Research outline 11 Chapter 2. Literature review 15 2.1 Review on the literature on exploratory innovation 15 2.2 Exploratory innovation created from a firm's internal knowledge base 23 2.2.1 The concept of knowledge network 23 2.2.2 Firm's innovation based on its knowledge network 28 2.3 Exploratory innovation through external knowledge sourcing in alliance portfolio 35 2.3.1 Two theoretical lenses to examine the effects of a firm's alliance portfolio on its exploratory innovation 35 2.3.2 Two preconditions to absorb and create new knowledge for exploratory innovation 37 Chapter 3. Exploratory innovation through managing firm's internal knowledge network 40 3.1 Introduction 40 3.2 Research Hypotheses 45 3.2.1 Degree of accumulation in architectural knowledge and newly explored component knowledge 45 3.2.2 Accumulated architectural knowledge and new knowledge elements 47 3.2.3 Accumulated component knowledge and new knowledge combinations 49 3.2.4 Accumulated component knowledge and new knowledge elements 52 3.3 Methods 56 3.3.1 Data and sample 56 3.3.2 Dependent variable 59 3.3.3 Independent Variables 60 3.3.4 Control Variables 61 3.3.5 Empirical model specification 62 3.4 Results 68 3.5 Discussion 72 Chapter 4. Exploratory innovation through gaining knowledge from alliance portfolio 75 4.1 Introduction 75 4.2 Research Hypothesis 81 4.2.1 Central position and exploratory innovation 81 4.2.2 Brokering position and exploratory innovation 84 4.2.3 Central position with partners' wide scope of new knowledge and exploratory innovation 86 4.2.4 Brokering position with partners' wide scope of shared knowledge and exploratory innovation 89 4.3 Methods 94 4.3.1 Data and sample 94 4.3.2 Dependent variable 96 4.3.3 Independent variables 98 4.3.4 Control variables 100 4.3.5 Empirical model specification 102 4.4 Results 107 4.5 Discussion 114 Chapter 5. Conclusive remarks 117 5.1 Contributions and implications 117 5.2 Limitations and future research 123 Bibliography 129 Abstract (Korean) 156박

How customers react to service unfairness? Moderating roles of interpersonal similarities on experience of envy and benign envy

Session: 04-206The “Customer Pyramid” and other similar customer management concepts advise firms to prioritize customers and treat them differently. Yet, offering preferential treatment to selected customers is potentially controversial. It implies a relatively inferior treatment to other customers and elicits the perception of service unfairness. In this study, we employ the social comparison theory to explicate the underlying process of how service unfairness impacts non-recipients’ behaviors. Specifically, we examine (1) impacts of service unfairness on the customers’ emotional experiences of envy and benign envy, (2) the differential effects of envy and benign envy on the non-recipients’ behaviors toward the preferentially treated customers (spreading negative word of mouth) and the sources of unfairness (cooperation with the salesperson and repurchase intention toward the store), and (3) the boundary conditions of the non-recipients’ similarities with those preferentially treated customers and the salesperson on the impacts of service unfairness. We tested our framework with laboratory experiments and a survey study in the context of clothing retail stores of 331 customers. Results support the roles of envy and benign envy in mediating the impact of service unfairness on those non-recipients’ behavioural outcomes. Specifically, if service unfairness elicits envy, it will increase the non-recipients’ negative WOM mouth toward those preferentially treated customers, reduces their repurchase intention, and lessens their cooperation with the salesperson. However, witnessing a preferential treatment received by others could be motivating for the non-recipients because they would also have the chance to enjoy such preferential treatment in the future (i.e., experience of benign envy). Our findings show that if service unfairness increases non-recipients’ experience of benign envy, it will motivates them to repurchase more, be more cooperative with the salesperson, but with no impact on the act of spreading negative WOM. Moreover, findings on the moderation influence of customers’ similarity with other customers and the salesperson further shed insights about the conditions for the differential impacts of service unfairness on ones’ experiences of envy and benign envy. Our study offers important implications on how firms can benefit from implementing customer management strategies involving differential treatments while minimizing their drawbacks.postprin

Determinants of the Acquisition of Smaller Firms by Larger Incumbents in High-Tech Industries: Are they related to Innovation and Technology Sourcing?

Innovation activities in high tech industries provide considerable challenges for technology and innovation management. In particular, firms frequently face significant technological challenges since these industries has a long history of radical innovations which are taking place through distinct industry cycles of higher and lower demand. The paper investigates these issues for three high-tech industries, namely semiconductor manufacturing, biotechnology and electronic design automation which is a specific sub-segment of the semiconductor industry. It analyses the association of firm characteristics with different aspects of acquisition behaviour. Particular focus is put on innovation-related firm characteristics. The paper finds that the determinants for acquisitions are mostly related to firm size, financial conditions and geographical origin of the firm. Only for biotechnology, a substitutive relationship is identified between acquisitions and own research activities.acquisition, innovation, semiconductor, design, automation, biotechnology

The choice of technological innovation modes: a multiple case study in the green lighting industry in China

JEL: M1，O3Since the beginning of the 21st century, the human living environment has been increasingly facing serious challenges. Energy-saving and environmental protection has become the theme of the era. Worldwide governments and enterprises work on the effective policies and measures that are jointly committed to the use and development of clean energy. In the 12th “Five-Year Plan” (i.e. The National Economic and Social Development Plan between 2011 and 2015) the Chinese government makes it clear that the energy saving and environmental protection industries will be the priority for its development. The green lighting industry is the new wave of energy saving and environmental protection industry. Due to its long industrial chain and comparatively less capital investment, the industry has attracted a large number of start-ups. According to statistics, the majority of enterprises in the industry were established less than ten years. The emerging entrepreneurial enterprises play an important role in the green lighting industry. However, the technology of green lighting is not mature yet. The competition of the industry is highly strong due to the fast changing market and demanding performance of the products. Against this backdrop, it is an inevitable requirement to strengthen and emphasize technological innovation. Based on the reality of green lighting industry, this thesis aims to develop models of technological innovation for entrepreneurial enterprises facing resource and capability constraints. Taking Grand Technology Co. Ltd, Kingsun Optoelectronic Co. Ltd and Sanan Photoelectrical Co. Ltd as the cases for the study, we focus our research on the competition environment of green lighting industry and identify the characteristics of entrepreneurial enterprises and technological innovation models. We then construct a theoretical framework for the selection of technological innovation of entrepreneurial enterprises with resource and capability constraints. The research adopts a multiple case study method to study representative companies of green lighting industry and finds the differences in the innovative selection under different resource and capability constraints.Desde o início do século XXI que o meio ambiente tem vindo a enfrentar desafios cada vez mais difíceis e que a necessidade de proteção ambiental se tornou no tema da época designadamente através da poupança de energia. Os governos e as empresas de todo o mundo trabalham no sentido da promoção de políticas e medidas destinadas à utilização e desenvolvimento de energias limpas e, no seu 12º Plano Quinquenal (i.e. o Plano Nacional de Desenvolvimento Económico e Social para o quinquénio 2011 - 2015), o governo chinês torna bem claro que será dada prioridade ao desenvolvimento de indústrias no ramo da poupança de energia e proteção ambiental. Neste âmbito insere-se a indústria da iluminação verde pelo seu impacto na poupança de energia. Nos últimos dez anos esta indústria tem atraído um número elevado de empresas nascentes devido à extensão da sua cadeia industrial e às necessidades de investimento relativamente reduzidas pelo que são empresas no seu estádio empreendedor que desempenham um papel importante na indústria da iluminação verde. Contudo, a tecnologia não está ainda suficientemente madura e a concorrência é muito intensa devido à elevada dinâmica do mercado e às crescentes exigências quanto ao desempenho dos produtos sendo inevitável reforçar e enfatizar a necessidade de inovação tecnológica. Baseando-se na realidade que a indústria da iluminação verde apresenta, esta tese pretende analisar e propor modelos de inovação tecnológica para empresas empreendedoras que se confrontam com escassez de recursos e de competências. Para tal foram estudados os casos das empresas Grand Technology Co. Ltd, Kingsun Optoelectronic Co. Ltd e Sanan Photoelectrical Co. Ltd procurando-se identificar e analisar as características destas empresas e os seus modelos de inovação. Através desse estudo procurou-se depois apresentar um modelo teórico para a seleção de inovação tecnológica por parte de empresas que se debatem com restrições de recursos e competências. Esta tese adopta o método do estudo de caso múltiplo e, focalizando-se em empresas representativas do fenómeno a analisar, foi possível encontrar diferenças no modo de seleção da inovação tecnológica em função das restrições de recursos e competências de cada empresa

Partner Selection Criteria in Strategic Alliances When to Ally with Weak Partners

In many emergent markets, cross-industry alliances are necessary to develop and market new products and services. The resource-based view suggests that firms form alliances to access or acquire valuable, rare, non-imitable and non-substitutable resources, and that such access determines the level of profits. Hence, firms confronted with the choice between partners with strong versus partners with weak resource endowments should choose the former. We contest this view and argue that firms benefit from allying with weak partners at certain times. In essence, we suggest that partner selection involves assessing the relative importance of strong resource endowments and aligned strategic aspirations over time. By adopting an evolutionary approach, we show that appropriate partner selection criteria are dynamic and may involve allying with weak partners in the initial exploratory stage, with weak and/or strong partners in the development stage and with strong partners in the maturity stage. Our findings suggest that the resource-based understanding of strategic alliances should be extended to include a more profound role for a partner firm’s strategic aspiration.Strategic alliances, partner selection, resources, aspirations

Competing in the Business Process Outsourcing Industry: A Call Center Case Study

In this paper, we study the business model of a call center in the business process outsourcing industry through case study research method to understand its business model and critical success factors. We found that the case company employed a concept of “virtual call center” and has developed “standard service processes” and “reused” them across various industries, product lines, and countries with only minor adjustment and customization. The case company leaned from Intel’s Copy Exactly technology transfer method and TSMC’s smart copy to take advantage of the experience curve. Its business model, and deployment and integration of information and communication technologies makes it possible to shorten the time for developing new services, reduce CSR training cost, and maintain competitive advantages such that it continues to grow rapidly and is profitable. Therefore, the company can provide streamlined and professional service for their business clients to keep excellent customer relationship. We have observed the new phenomena, “Service Sector Manufacturization” through the analysis of the case data collected