Knowledge Management in Knowledge Intensive Service Networks: A Strategic Management Perspective

Knowledge is the key to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Driven by a change in consumer needs towards “comprehensive service solutions”, more and more services are offered through networks. By so doing, individual firms can concentrate on their distinctive competencies and by combining these with those of partner firms such a network is able to offer complex, knowledge-intensive services at high quality and at reasonable prices. It is clear that the success of such knowledge intensive service networks depends strongly on the effective and efficient combination and use of the distinctive competencies of the network partners. That ability to combine and use distinctive competencies represents the core competency of the network as a whole. Understanding knowledge as a key resource for those distinctive competencies the combination problem can be seen as a knowledge management problem. The main contribution of this paper is to analyze knowledge management in service networks. We use a strategic management approach instead of a more technology-oriented approach since we believe that managerial problems still remain after technological problems have been solved. Therefore the question arises how to guarantee an effective and efficient combination and utilization of the distributed knowledge in knowledge-intensive service networks. The objective of this paper is to analyze the problems concerning the management of knowledge in service networks. It outlines possible solutions for these knowledge management problems in order to provide sustaining competitive advantage for the network as a whole.knowledge management, networks, knowledge-intensive services

Amending the Resource-based view of Strategic Management from an Entrepreneurial Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to amend the resource-based view of strategic management from an entrepreneurial point of view. We firstly attempt to make a brief survey of the conceptual framework of the RBV by contrasting it with the competitive forces approach (CFA) presented by Porter (1980). Secondly, we clarify the objectives of corporate strategy through a critical assessment of the RBV from both a static and a dynamic point of view. Finally, we suggest a new perspective of the RBV by amending it from an entrepreneurial viewpoint, and then take some examples to illustrate the new perspective for further empirical studies.resource-based view, entrepreneurship, disequilibrium

How to Gain Success in SME? A Case Study of a region in the Czech Republic.

Small and medium sized entrepreneurship (SME) is often considered a contemporary phenomenon. Why have so many authors dedicated their work to this field? The main reason is that SME influences society and contributes to the economic development of its region. This analysis emphasizes endogenous factors for success. The situation in the Moravia-Silesian Region (the northeast region of the Czech Republic) in which we applied factor analysis on a research sample supported our hypothesis. Moreover, we used VRIO analysis to clearly interpret our research findings.SME, VRIO, regional development

Hire Education: Mastery, Modularization and the Workforce Revolution

This new research identifies online competency-based learning as the solution to shifting demands for specialized workforce skills and the front runner for disrupting higher education

Supply chain management, 3rd party logistics & food quality & safety: evidence from Greece

The aim of this study was to examine whether or not the efficiency of the supply chain management affect the food quality & safety. We focused upon transportation, warehousing, and inventory management. We also examined why food companies choose to outsource logistics functions such as transportation and warehousing and to what extent outsourcing affected food quality & safety. We conducted a large scale quantitative survey during January to March 2005. We faxed 400 questionnaires to Greek food companies with more than 5 personnel. We got 79 usable questionnaires (response rate 19.8%). The data analysis showed that food companies have no doubt that improving food quality means increased market share and profits. Transportation & warehousing are the main cost drivers. The most significant problems of the logistics function are: (1) re-occurring failures to quality control (2) overdue expiration date (3) inefficiencies in product sorting and handling. 44% of the companies have a logistics department. 35% of companies reported that prefer to get 3rd party logistics; most of them are SMEs. 50% of Greek food companies have acquired ISO certification in production, transportation and warehousing. ISO 14001 is rarely used. Almost all companies reported that training of personnel is a factor of improving food quality

Gaining and sustaining competitive operations in turbulent business environments : what and how?

Operatiivisen ja strategisen johtamisen kirjallisuudessa on korostettu monia tekijöitä kuten resurssivalintoja ja operatiivista päätöksentekoa, strategista suunnittelua ja toimintaa sekä kilpailuetujen valintaa. Näitä tekijöitä on korostettu yrityksen kilpailukykyisten toimintojen lisäksi myös organisaation suorituskyvyn lähteinä. Johtamiskäytännöt ovat kuitenkin osoittaneet kilpailukykyisten toimintojen saavuttamisen ja säilyttämisen monesti epäonnistuneen etenkin kun liiketoimintaympäristössä on ollut turbulenssia. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan väittää epäonnistumisten johtuvan pääsääntöisesti yrityksen resurssivalintojen ja operatiivisten päätösten, strategisen suunnittelun ja toiminnan sekä kilpailuetujen valitsemisen välisestä epäsuhdasta. Väitöskirja on yhdistelmä neljästä julkaisusta, joissa on käytetty sekä kvalitatiivisia että kvantitatiivisia metodeja. Tutkimuksen tuloksena on yleispätevä viitekehys, joka voi toimia tukena johtajille ja päätöksentekijöille heidän vastatessaan yrityksen resurssivalinnoista ja operatiivisista päätöksistä, strategisesta suunnittelusta ja toiminnasta sekä kilpailuetujen valinnasta. Viitekehys kehitettiin neljän eri vaiheen kautta. Ensimmäiseksi painotettiin kilpailuetuihin liittyvien vaihtoehtoiskustannusten tai moneen rinnakkaiseen painopisteeseen liittyvien haasteiden ymmärtämistä. Seuraavaksi tutkimuksessa kehitettiin viitekehys tehokasta strategista suunnittelua, toimeenpanoa ja valvontaa varten. Kolmanneksi strategisten tavoitteiden ja päämäärien saavuttamiseksi resurssivalintojen ja operatiivisten päätösten on oltava linjassa. Siksi päätettiin kehittää viitekehys, joka auttaa linjaamaan resurssivalinnat ja operatiiviset päätökset arvoketjussa, jonka jälkeen malli verifioitiin empiirisesti. Lopuksi nämä neljä julkaisua on yhdistetty oikeuttamaan väite, jonka mukaan organisaation kilpailukyvyn maksimoimiseksi yrityksen on yhdistettävä resurssivalinnat ja operatiivinen päätöksenteko, strateginen suunnittelu ja toiminta sekä kilpailuetujen valinta. Väitöstutkimus antaa monin tavoin panoksensa yrityksen, turbulenttisen liiketoimintaympäristön, yrityksen kilpailukyvyn ja organisaation suorituskyvyn teorioista kertovaan kirjallisuuteen. Lisäksi tässä tutkimuksessa kehitetyt konseptit ja argumentit auttavat parantamaan operatiivisen ja strategisen johdon johtamiskäytäntöjä. Näin ollen ehdotettujen konseptien ja viitekehyksen käyttöönoton avulla yritys voi saavuttaa ja säilyttää kilpailukykyisen toimintansa turbulenttisessa liiketoimintaympäristössä.A number of factors have been emphasized in operations and strategic management literature, such as resource choice and operations decisions, strategic planning and actions, and the choice of competitive priorities. These factors have been highly emphasized not only as the source of a firm’s competitive operations, but also as the source of its organizational performance. However, managerial practice shows that the act of gaining and sustaining competitive operations has often failed, especially when the business environment is turbulent. Through this research, we argue that this failure is mainly due to the lack of fit between a firm’s resource choice and operations decisions, strategic planning and actions, and the choice of competitive priorities. This dissertation is a combination of four publications approached through both qualitative and quantitative methods. A generalized framework has been proposed as a final outcome, which might act as a point of reference for managers and decision makers when correlating a firm’s resource choice and operations decisions, strategic planning and actions, and the choice of competitive priorities. The generalized framework was developed following four different steps. First, emphasis was given to gaining an understanding of the dilemma of trade-off or multi focus among competitive priorities. Second, the research developed a framework for effective and/or efficient strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring. Third, to meet strategic objectives and goals, there must be a proper alignment between resource choice and operations decisions; therefore, emphasis was placed on developing a framework that helps to align resource choice and operations decisions in the value chain, which was then verified empirically. Finally, these four publications have been combined to justify the argument that, to maximize organizational competitiveness and performance, there must be concurrence between a firm’s resource choice and operations decisions, strategic planning and actions, and the choice of competitive priorities. This dissertation provides several contributions to the literature in the fields of theory of the firm, turbulent business environments, firm competitiveness, and organizational performance. Moreover, the concepts and the arguments developed in this research help to enhance the managerial practice of operations and strategic management. Hence, through the implementation of the suggested concepts and the framework, a firm can gain and sustain competitive operations in turbulent business environments.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

The Applicability of the Principles of Activity-Based Costing System in a Higher Education Institution

In view of the growing relevance of management accounting in the administration of universities, the recognition of the need for an effective costs assessment system (Jarrar, Smith and Dolley, 2007), and the profound changes that have been occurring in the structure of Portuguese universities, developing and implementing models that may actually be useful for the management of these institutions will be of major importance. The aim of this work is to present a costs assessment model, influenced by the activity-based costing (ABC) and applicable to higher education institutions. Therefore, based on the procedures used by the services of a faculty belonging to a large Portuguese university, we tried to create a model which allows the attribution of each department’s expenditure to the various cost objects – courses, research projects, services. In this way, we tried to present a model which, without being too complex, has a level of detail sufficient enough to enable the production of reliable information and which can be applied in the context of higher education institutions.Activity-based costing, Management accounting

Does Pricing Strategy Increase the Competitive Advantage of Companies Implementing an ABC System?

Abstract. This study aims to investigate the extent to which pricing strategy creates an effective competitive advantage for companies implementing an activity-based costing (ABC) system in their production activities. The research data were obtained through a questionnaire-based survey of several manufacturing companies in Indonesia that implement ABC systems. This research used the Structural Equation Model with Partial Least Square statistical method. The results of this research indicate that those companies who apply an ABC system are capable of making their pricing strategy more effective and increasing their competitive advantage. The empirical results show that price competition is unavoidable among manufacturing industries. However, implementing an ABC system can increase manufacturing companies' competitive advantage. Thus, the implementation of an ABC System employs pricing strategy as a determinant factor of competitive advantage. This research supports the results of previous studies that also concluded that there is a strong relationship between ABC systems and competitive advantage. In addition, this research found that pricing strategy can improve competitive advantage with implementation of an ABC System.Keywords: Activity-based costing system; competitive advantage; pricing strategy Abstrak. Studi ini bertujuan untuk menginvestigasi sejauh mana Strategi Penetapan Harga mampu menciptakan Keunggulan Bersaing yang efektif bagi perusahaan yang menerapkan Sistem Activity Based Costing dalam kegiatan produksinya. Data dalam penelitian ini didapatkan menggunakan survei berbasis kuesioner dari perusahaan manufaktur di Indonesia yang menerapkan Sistem Activity Based Costing. Penelitian ini akan menggunakan Structural Equation Model (SEM) dengan metode statistic Partial Least Square. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa perusahaan yang menerapkan Sistem Activity Based Costing terbukti mampu membuat Strategi Penetapan Harga perusahaan lebih efektif dan sekaligus berdampak pada peningkatan Keunggulan Bersaing. Hasil empiris menunjukkan bahwa persaingan harga tidak dapat dihindari dalam industri manufaktur. Tetapi, dengan menerapkan Sistem Activity Based Costing, perusahaan manufaktur mampu meningkatkan Keunggulan Bersaing. Sehingga, kehadiran Sistem Activity Based Costing menjadi Strategi Penetapan Harga sebagai penentu Keunggulan Bersaing. Penelitian ini memperkuat hasil penelitian sebelumnya yang juga menyimpulkan bahwa ada hubungan yang kuat antara Sistem Activity Based Costing dan Keunggulan Bersaing. Dalam penelitian ini, juga menemukan kesimpulan bahwa Strategi Penetapan Harga mampu meningkatkan Keunggulan Bersaing melalui implementasi Sistem Activity Based Costing.Kata kunci: Sistem activity based costing; keunggulan bersaing; strategi penetapan harga

The divergent transitions towards sustainable biofuel networks/chains

In this exploratory paper we investigate how Capabilities, Transaction Costs and Vertical Scope co-evolve, by testing the Jacobides & Winter (2005) model on the Biofuels Industry in the area of the EU. The theoretical framework is based on the Industrial Architecture theory but also on Transaction Costs Economics, Resource Based View and on the concept of the Dynamic Capabilities. Qualitative data on the institutional environment of the Biofuels Industry in the EU-15 was collected. Via interviews, qualitative data (case studies) was collected through interviews on the elements of productive capabilities, the vertical division of labour, knowledge and technology and attributes of the transactions. These conclusions include the verification of mechanisms 1 & 2 of the Jacobides & Winter (2005) model, in particular that the resources and capabilities determine the degree of vertical specialisation, with transactions costs as moderating factor. The conclusions of this project bring the need for further investigation on measuring the concepts of Capabilities and Transaction Costs together but also, on how to prescribe and measure the process of Capabilities development and the capabilities redistribution