How to transition Chinese firms into world-class corporations : organizational and cultural innovations are key

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-262).Entering the 21st Century, after almost 30 years development of the Chinese economy, several famous Chinese firms have grown to a significant scale and achieved the rudiments of world-class corporations. Following Japanese and Korean corporations, several firms began their globalization and expansion: Lenovo, Haier, Huawei, and TCL. During the short period of Chinese corporations' globalization, however, they have faced various kinds of difficulties and challenges. Starting from case analyses of eight major electronics corporations (including Philips, Motorola, Toshiba, LG, Acer, Lenovo, Huawei, and TCL, corporations in Europe, USA, Japan, Korea, Taiwan of China and mainland China), the thesis expounds the course of their growth from a historical perspective. It uses the approach of comparison, conclusion and deduction to seek common elements of their success and the common issues faced in their development. The case studies are the principal factual basis of the discussion in the thesis. The main text starts from consideration of organizational and cultural innovation and discusses the forms, evolution, and innovation in organizational development.(cont.) At the same time, I analyze the differences in typical methodology, system, and culture resulting from the differences in national culture in America, Japan, and China. Based on the characteristics of Chinese "Small Groupism" culture, I propose that a solution for Chinese organizational management and cultural innovation is to establish the "Rigid Frame and Flexible Organism," in other words to establish management and cultural bureaucratic organization. In Chapter III, from the perspective of practical application, I explain the methods of diagnosing organizational culture and how effectively to advance innovation in organizational culture. Hereafter, based on the trend and scale analysis of the eight corporations, I draw conclusions as to the common elements in their development as well as guidance for the development and globalization of Chinese electronic corporations. Based on the framework to establish the "Rigid Frame and Flexible Organism", I address in detail recommendations for Chinese firms.by Zhongyao (Charls) Zhao.S.M

Innovation among Japanese telecoms in the Internet era : a comparison based on analysis of successful U.S. companies

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-95).The worldwide telephone industry is in transition-from traditional telecom service provider to broadband service provider. NTT, Japan's leading telecom company, must establish a new source of revenue that will compensate for declining income from fixed-phone service. The company needs to implement innovation in the organization in order to create a competitive breakthrough service while it struggles to be more efficient in the existing telecom service. In the U.S., several companies have successfully implemented innovations. I analyzed IBM, GE, 3M, and Procter & Gamble (P&G), mainly from an organizational perspective. IBM, a multinational computer technology and consulting company, is a good example of a company that successfully changed its business model from a traditional mainframe computer maker to an IT solutions provider. GE, 3M, and P&G also have produced satisfactory financial results by implementing an innovative culture into their large organizations. The key success factors of those three companies should provide some important suggestions for NTT. I also surveyed successful innovative companies from a process perspective. IDEO is a good example. Taking advantage of the strong leadership of its founder, IDEO produces many innovative designs for products and services. The company has a strong platform and culture that encourages innovation. After surveying these successful U.S. companies, I discuss how NTT could implement some of the innovative elements of those successful companies. Finally, I discuss several issues that are unique to the telecom industry: among them, regulation, bureaucracy, and restructuring. It is my hope that this thesis will help those who are in large organizations and struggling to bring innovation to the company.by Nobukatsu Takei.M.B.A

Rethinking the Dutch Innovation Agenda: Management and Organization Matter Most

In this essay, we challenge the present dominant emphasis in the Dutch Innovation Debate on the creation of technological innovations, the focus on a few core technologies, and the allocation of more financial resources. We argue that managerial capabilities and organizing principles for innovation should have a higher priority on the Dutch Innovation Agenda. Managerial capabilities for innovation deal with cognitive elements such as the capacity to absorb knowledge, create entrepreneurial mindsets, and facilitate managerial experimentation and higher-order learning abilities. These capacities can only be developed by distinctive managerial roles that enhance hierarchy, teaming and shared norms. Utilizing these unique managerial capabilities requires novel organizing principles, such as managing internal rates of change, nurturing self-organization and balancing high levels of exploration and exploitation. These managerial capabilities and organizing principles of innovation create new sources of productivity growth and competitive advantage.The dramatic fall back of the Netherlands in the league of innovative and high productivity countries of the World Economic Forum-Report can be mainly attributed to the present lack in the Netherlands of these key managerial and organizational enablers of innovation and productivity growth. We provide various levers for building unique managerial capabilities and novel organizing principles of innovation. Moreover, we describe the necessary roles that different actors have to play in this innovation arena. In particular, we focus on the often neglected but important role of strategic regulations that speed up innovation and productivity growth. They are the least expensive way to boost innovation in organizations in both the Dutch private and public sector. Finally, we discuss the implications for the Dutch Innovation Agenda. It should start with setting a challenging ambition, namely the return of The Netherlands within the WEF- league of the top-ten most innovative and productive countries of the world. Considering the under-utilization of available knowledge stemming from technological innovations, managerial and organizational determinants of innovation should receive first priority. These determinants have a high strategic relevance and should receive more public recognition. We suggest to organize an annual innovation ranking of the most outstanding Dutch firms, to develop an innovation audit that measures firms’ non-technological innovation capacity, and to create an overall innovation policy for fast diffusion of new managerial capabilities and adequate organizing principles throughout the Dutch private and public sector.In conclusion, we add five new items to the Dutch Innovation Agenda:1. Prioritize administrative innovationsInvestments in management and organization determinants of absorption of knowledge and its successful application (administrative innovation) should have a higher priority than investments in technological innovations.2. Build new managerial capabilities and develop novel organizing principlesFor these administrative innovations to succeed, firms have to build managerial capabilities (broad knowledge-base, absorptive capacity, managerial experimentation, higher-order learning) and various management roles (hierarchy, teaming, shared norms) to increase the assimilation of external knowledge and the utilization for innovation. Moreover, they have to develop novel organizing principles that increase internal rates of change, nurture self-organization and synchronize high levels of exploration and exploitation.3. Set levers of innovation by creating selection environments that favor innovation and by redefining the roles of key actors Management has to create a proper organizational context to foster entrepreneurship and innovation (internal selection environment). Governmental agencies have to focus on innovation and productivity enabling strategic regulations (external selection environment). Moreover, research institutes, business schools, and consulting firms should not only focus on technological knowledge, but also on managerial and organizational knowledge for innovation. In the end, private small and large firms and public institutions have to recognize that they all must contribute to the national goal of increasing innovation and productivity growth.4. Create a new challenging national ambition: return of the Netherlands within the top-10The Netherlands has to return to the top-ten most innovative and productive countries in the world as reflected in international rankings such as the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.5. Proliferate an awareness and passion for innovation:Create public awareness and recognition of the societal relevance of outstanding managerial capabilities and organizing principles to innovation and productivity growth:o Initiate a Dutch innovation ranking in terms of management and organization;o Develop proper assessment tools for innovations in management and organization;o Enhance reporting on the progress on managerial and organizational innovation as part of modern corporate governance and as part of outstanding annual reports.These issues may contribute to rethinking the fundamental sources of innovation, productivity growth and sustainable competitive advantage of the Dutch economy.dynamic capabilities;knowledge transfer;exploitation;exploration;mANAGEMENT;mindsets;organizing pinciples;srategic rgulation;strategy innovation

Commoditization: a threat or an opportunity?: a case study on IBM

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThe purpose of this work project is to analyze the concept of commoditization in the information technology industry (IT). It is based on a case study that describes how IBM, a successful company for more than seventy years, was affected by the commoditization of the personal computer segment in the early 1990s and the strategic transformation undertook by the company to overcome this problem. Furthermore, it is also emphasized IBM’s decisions to exit commoditized segments and to shift its portfolio towards services and software, due to their major contribution in bringing the company back to its leading position in the marketplace

Effective Knowledge Management (KM) strategy within a business organization

A cohesive Knowledge Management (KM) strategy is found at the cornerstone of every successful business enterprise\u27s overall business strategy. The full benefit of this strategy can only be achieved through a dynamic, technology-enabled framework that encourages best and better practices to capture the outputs of human innovation and creative knowledge. Competitive pressures and technological convergence, most prevalent in high technology business sectors, have demonstrated the critical need for an information strategy that can harness and discern the continual amass of intellectual property. The continual accumulation of information and knowledge critical to the sustained viability of many business organizations, presents significant and complex management challenges. The dynamic changes in economic conditions and technical innovation and advance, coupled with the need to manage the outputs of human innovation and creative capacity, continues to present a paradigm shift from the traditional management approaches to more adaptive, dynamic, non-traditional management approaches and technology solutions. A major KM challenge many organizations continue to face is no longer just how to capture and manage their intellectual property, but how to identify and discern between true intellectual content and simple information, the real knowledge of their business. A successful KM strategy becomes synonymous with the overall business strategy, and includes the requirement for a process model that provides a framework that can be adapted to an ever-changing business model. This framework must provide the ability to identify and discern between static data or information and dynamic intellectual property, which the latter is often the direct output of human creativity and innovation.1 Accordingly, one important aspect of KM as a practice is the development of knowledge transfer systems. However, the one-size-fits-all approach to the technical solution is only part of the success equation.2 The other critical element in the equation is the approach to integrate it into the related business process framework. The means of specific process improvement may vary based on business requirements and scope of technical solution, but the underlying basis of need for change or improvement remains a constant. A foundational framework for business process strategy and execution takes on much greater significance as part of the overall business strategy. Thomas A. Stewart, a member of the board of editors at Fortune Magazine, says Because knowledge has become the single most important factor of production, managing intellectual assets has become the single most important task of business. This paper will focus on the discipline of knowledge management and associated knowledge transfer practices in a pragmatic context to illustrate its importance as an integral component of a successful business strategy. This includes the perspectives of both as strategic asset in the management of intellectual capital, and as an enabling technology to leverage the intellectual capital for business fulfillment. The assertions and discussions put forth, while centered on knowledge management, can be paralleled for several IT-centric business disciplines. However, the analysis of the research and case studies referenced in this paper will illustrate the growing breadth and importance of knowledge assets as the primary cornerstone in a broad spectrum of business disciplines. More importantly, it will clearly demonstrate the critical need to effectively manage and control knowledge assets for competitive advantage as part of the overall business strategy. 1 Yogesh Malhotra, Knowledge Management for E-business Performance: Advancing Information Strategy to Internet Time ; Information Strategy, The Executive\u27s Journal. Summer 2000, vol. 16 (4), pp. 5-16 2 James Conlan, Improving Business Processes , KMWorld, November/December 2001, pp. S13

Passion and process in environmental management at IBM

Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-118).Sustainability is one of the greatest challenges we are faced with. To be successfully addressed, a variety of stakeholders, including business, must be involved. With this in mind, this thesis seeks to further our understanding of how a firm's response to sustainability can, in addition to making business sense, be effective and sustainable. This inevitably entails dealing with the classic tension between "passion" and "process." Therefore, the thesis explores how a balance between these two may be found by examining IBM's extensive and long-sustained environmental management experience. IBM has a recognized record of environmental responsibility that has matured over almost 40 years, surviving periods of great difficulty for the company. Its environmental sustainability program and its commitment to corporate responsibility, a continuum from legal and compliance activities to engagements that help the company develop value-creation opportunities, is clearly strategic. Its efforts - a combination of activities that address immediate and future business pressures - are in tune with what the literature considers to be "best practice" in environmental corporate sustainability. IBM's experience confirms both the importance of nourishing an emotional commitment to sustainability and of establishing a process - in its case, an environmental management system - that enables the company to systematically identify and manage the environmental impacts of its operations.(cont.) On the one hand, its long-sustained record of environmental commitment, combined with its dedication to being a recognized environmental leader, has instilled a strong passion for sustainability across the company's organizations and employees. On the other hand, IBM's pursuit of a demonstrable record of performance, combined with a commitment to continuous improvement, has led to the development of a carefully designed, effective environmental management system. IBM seems to have optimized the balance between passion and process through a commitment to scientific, fact-based, decision-making, which has allowed the company to design and implement goals and procedures that will have the most impact given its resources and footprint.by Paulina Ponce de León Baridó.S.M.in Technology and Polic

Rethinking the Dutch Innovation Agenda: Management and Organization Matter Most

In this essay, we challenge the present dominant emphasis in the Dutch Innovation Debate on the creation of technological innovations, the focus on a few core technologies, and the allocation of more financial resources. We argue that managerial capabilities and organizing principles for innovation should have a higher priority on the Dutch Innovation Agenda. Managerial capabilities for innovation deal with cognitive elements such as the capacity to absorb knowledge, create entrepreneurial mindsets, and facilitate managerial experimentation and higher-order learning abilities. These capacities can only be developed by distinctive managerial roles that enhance hierarchy, teaming and shared norms. Utilizing these unique managerial capabilities requires novel organizing principles, such as managing internal rates of change, nurturing self-organization and balancing high levels of exploration and exploitation. These managerial capabilities and organizing principles of innovation create new sources of productivity growth and competitive advantage. The dramatic fall back of the Netherlands in the league of innovative and high productivity countries of the World Economic Forum-Report can be mainly attributed to the present lack in the Netherlands of these key managerial and organizational enablers of innovation and productivity growth. We provide various levers for building unique managerial capabilities and novel organizing principles of innovation. Moreover, we describe the necessary roles that different actors have to play in this innovation arena. In particular, we focus on the often neglected but important role of strategic regulations that speed up innovation and productivity growth. They are the least expensive way to boost innovation in organizations in both the Dutch private and public sector. Finally, we discuss the implications for the Dutch Innovation Agenda. It should start with setting a challenging ambition, namely the return of The Netherlands within the WEF- league of the top-ten most innovative and productive countries of the world. Considering the under-utilization of available knowledge stemming from technological innovations, managerial and organizational determinants of innovation should receive first priority. These determinants have a high strategic relevance and should receive more public recognition. We suggest to organize an annual innovation ranking of the most outstanding Dutch firms, to develop an innovation audit that measures firms’ non-technological innovation capacity, and to create an overall innovation policy for fast diffusion of new managerial capabilities and adequate organizing principles throughout the Dutch private and public sector. In conclusion, we add five new items to the Dutch Innovation Agenda: 1. Prioritize administrative innovations Investments in management and organization determinants of absorption of knowledge and its successful application (administrative innovation) should have a higher priority than investments in technological innovations. 2. Build new managerial capabilities and develop novel organizing principles For these administrative innovations to succeed, firms have to build managerial capabilities (broad knowledge-base, absorptive capacity, managerial experimentation, higher-order learning) and various management roles (hierarchy, teaming, shared norms) to increase the assimilation of external knowledge and the utilization for innovation. Moreover, they have to develop novel organizing principles that increase internal rates of change, nurture self-organization and synchronize high levels of exploration and exploitation. 3. Set levers of innovation by creating selection environments that favor innovation and by redefining the roles of key actors Management has to create a proper organizational context to foster entrepreneurship and innovation (internal selection environment). Governmental agencies have to focus on innovation and productivity enabling strategic regulations (external selection environment). Moreover, research institutes, business schools, and consulting firms should not only focus on technological knowledge, but also on managerial and organizational knowledge for innovation. In the end, private small and large firms and public institutions have to recognize that they all must contribute to the national goal of increasing innovation and productivity growth. 4. Create a new challenging national ambition: return of the Netherlands within the top-10 The Netherlands has to return to the top-ten most innovative and productive countries in the world as reflected in international rankings such as the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index. 5. Proliferate an awareness and passion for innovation: Create public awareness and recognition of the societal relevance of outstanding managerial capabilities and organizing principles to innovation and productivity growth: o Initiate a Dutch innovation ranking in terms of management and organization; o Develop proper assessment tools for innovations in management and organization; o Enhance reporting on the progress on managerial and organizational innovation as part of modern corporate governance and as part of outstanding annual reports. These issues may contribute to rethinking the fundamental sources of innovation, productivity growth and sustainable competitive advantage of the Dutch economy

Five-Point Leaders, Leading Innovation in the Behavior Economy

The behavior economy is an emerging business paradigm driven by new models for value creation, through digital platforms that shape experiences and information flow. In the marketplace new spaces for businesses to compete are emerging rapidly, enabling new engagement models, and profiting from behaviors that did not exist prior to their invention. There is a gap in understanding what is unique about the individuals capable of maintaining foresight over time while implementing innovation daily. By investigating the companies that are at the front of the behavior economy and the individuals that built them, a framework for understanding the desired leadership qualities was developed. This Five-Point framework integrates the opposing forces of integrator and disruptor, philosopher and entrepreneur and the pilot force. The framework can be used to identify leaders with high capacity for foresight innovation and used to develop tools for personal development