Cloud computing: pushing the right managerial buttons

Despite the obvious organisational advantages offered by cloud computing, not all firms have adopted and adapted to the rapid changes that this new form of remote data storage represents. Recent research and practice have focused on the issue from the perspective of firms as a whole, whilst overlooking the potential contribution of individual managerial practice and behaviour towards addressing the situation

Mitigating the Dark Side of Agile Teams: Peer Pressure, Leaders’ Control, and the Innovative Output of Self-managing Teams

Increasingly, organizations have been employing self-managing teams to circumvent bureaucratic controls and stimulate innovation. However, this goal is not easily achieved; in many situations, informal controls replace formal controls. This study develops a multi-level perspective of control. We explicitly analyze control mechanisms at different levels of the organization and how they affect innovative team output. We theorize and empirically investigate a potential downside of horizontal social control mechanisms at the team level (i.e., peer pressure) affecting self-managing teams’ innovative outcomes. We also discuss managerial control mechanisms at the organizational level (i.e., interactive and diagnostic management control systems) that may help to mitigate such negative effects. We theorize how they may influence the innovative output of self-managing teams, both directly and interactively. We chose a multi-level, multi-source setting for our study and ran three parallel surveys with employees in a Fortune 500 firm. 248 team members, 126 internal team leaders, and 97 organizational leaders enabled us to create a unique database of 97 self-managing software development teams. Our findings confirm that peer pressure is common among established agile teams and that it negatively influences the innovative output of the agile teams. Moreover, our findings show that the magnitude of the effect of peer pressure is contingent on control mechanisms at higher levels within the organization. This enables us to provide new theoretical insights regarding the paradoxical effect of managerial control systems when it comes to flat organizations and autonomous teams. Additionally, we provide practical guidelines for managers who increasingly adopt agile practices but at the same time face issues with regard to innovation

Dynamic Capabilities for Managing Emerging Technologies

__Abstract__ The advancement of information and communication technologies has brought a digital age, where massive computing power, high speed and ubiquitous access to internet and more recently Cloud Computing Technology are expected to transform a wide range of organizations, industries, and societies. The complexities and uncertainties associated with such a transformation process generate numerous puzzling questions for practitioners and academic researchers. How can organizations overcome rigidities in their resources and routines and adapt in line with the requirements of such technological change? What are the distinct characteristics of the established firms that are more successful in maintaining their competiveness during and after the transformation process? This dissertation combines multiple data sources concerning organizational adoption of Cloud Computing. It includes data from a 4-year intensive filed study, multiple comparative case studies, and a survey among Dutch companies, to provide a basis for better understanding of the micro-foundations of organizational capabilities for managing emerging technologies. Drawing on the literature on dynamic capabilities, this dissertation provides a more complete picture of the drivers of effective response to a technological change through investigation of the interplay between structures, routines, and managerial cognition. In this dissertation, first an investigation on the processes of organizational adaptation in response to the technological change is provided. I discuss what type of managerial initiatives are needed for fostering effective adoption of emerging technologies and what are the key determinants and managerial roles for realizing those initiatives. Second, I investigate the relationship between structure, strategic intent, and technology driven business model innovation and argue that, rather than any particular structural form, structural alteration may be crucial for enabling transition to a new business model. Third, I discuss the important role of involvement and close interaction with the customers in giving rise to managerial attention and initiatives that will in turn support exploratory behavior in emerging technology fields. Lastly, the interplay between formalization, centralization, and managerial attention in enabling early sensing and seizing of emerging technologies has been investigated. The findings illustrate how different organizational characteristics may influence the degree of dependence to managerial attention for responding to technological change. The dissertation as whole provides new insights on the origins and outcomes of dynamic capabilities for managing emerging technologies

What's in it for the Provider? The Case of a Telecom Vendor's Value Capturing from the Transition to Product-Service Systems

AbstractIn adopting highly integrated Product-Service Systems (PSS), incentive structures change and the value attainable for providers throughout the lifecycle becomes an issue of growing complexity. Nonetheless, value for PSS providers has up to now not been considered in a multidimensional fashion. In an effort to move towards a characterization of provider's value, an offering in the information communication technology sector was examined through an investigation with ten staff-members of Ericsson, Sweden. This led to a value-categorization, which can be utilized in the PSS design process to enhance the value captured throughout the lifecycle beyond immediate monetary benefit. In an effort to provide general learnings, the results are discussed with a focus on PSS business models, PSS design and management communication. Overall, the results presented provide a more comprehensive picture of what a provider has to gain from a PSS offering throughout its entire lifecycle

Toward service orientation in manufacturing firms : Requirements and challenges for innovation and new service development process The case of Ericsson AB

Moving toward services business is more than just a new source of revenue for the manufacturing firms. Increased competition blended with ever increasing demands from customers makes the transition toward services an essential shift for competitiveness and survival of manufacturing companies. This new landscape, however, brings about some challenges for the  manufacturing firms that possess long lasting organizational routines and processes designed for the context of physical products or software. Idiosyncratic characteristics of services (Intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, perishability) urge for routines and processes which are different to those for physical products. New service development (NSD) process is among these critical areas. This research is aimed at understanding the requirements of an effective NSD process through a single in-depth case study. In this research we provide empirical support for the NSD process model suggested by (Kindström and Kowalkowsky(2009). Theoretical contributions also include deeper understanding of services and differentiation of services with regards to 1) their nature of relationship with customers, 2) degree of Standardizability 3) degree of integration/separation of services to physical products. We have also considered typology of service innovation in our study and tried to map empirical findings from the case study to the earlier findings in this context. The study results suggest adjustments to the process according to findings from different service areas. Managerial implications also consider adaptation of knowledge management strategies and supportive approaches to amplify service innovation at Ericsson AB.The research won the third prize from VINNOVA and ESBRI for the best student thesis among Swedish university on the subject of innovation for the year 2011, read more here: http://www.innovationsuppsats.se/tidigare.asp.</p

Productive organizational energy mediates the impact of organizational structure on absorptive capacity

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From Hierarchies to Markets: Transformation of Corporate Innovation at Ericsson

This multi-year, in-depth qualitative case study examines an incumbent’s response to digital disruptions characterized by uncertain technologies and emergent business models, a relatively underexplored topic in Information Systems and Strategic Management literatures. In particular, the study documents Ericsson’s journey of transformation of corporate innovation in response to a wave of disruptive innovations, including cloud computing, Internet of Things, and the 5th Generation technologies coupled with changing customer requirements, increasing competition, and evolving industry landscape. The findings demonstrate how organizations can transform their corporate innovation strategy by employing a “long-tail” strategy as an openness imperative, thereby integrating a market of innovations within the traditional hierarchy of corporate R&D. This evolving hybrid model helps firms leverage the uncertainty during the period of digital disruption to their advantage

Mutualism and the dynamics of new platform creation:A study of cisco and fog computing

Research summary: How firms respond to the emergence of dominant platforms that undermine their competitiveness remains a strategic puzzle. Our longitudinal study shows how one incumbent, Cisco, responded to such a challenge by creating a new platform, Fog, without undermining the dominant platform, Cloud, where it played a complementor role. By developing a process model we reveal how a firm in a peripheral role in a platform ecosystem can reposition itself through a dynamic mix of material, symbolic and institutional actions to develop and legitimize an alternative platform. This can be done first through symbiosis with the dominant platform, then partial competition with it. We theorize the value of a mutualistic “rising tide lifts all boats” strategy in contrast to hostile “winner takes all” approaches. Managerial summary: The increasing pervasiveness of digital platforms are driving established firms to reboot their strategy to embrace emergent forms of competition, collaboration, and mutual coexistence. Fearing disruption in their traditional business models, firms may decide to jump into the platform game. However, this is not straightforward since they do not want to go head-to-head with existing platforms and alienate their partners and customers by being perceived as encroaching on their turf. We describe one way that established technology firms are overcoming this dilemma through a “rising-tide-lifts-all-boats” strategy to cultivate new platforms. We show the value of seemingly inconsistent and dynamic approaches toward strategic communication and investments firm can use to lead new platforms without facing backlash from others

The dynamics of new sharing economy ventures strategies and ecosystem legitimacy:The case of Airbnb

While new ventures strive to align with prevailing demand and expectations to gain and maintain legitimacy and successfully overcome the liability of newness, sharing economy ventures face additional legitimacy pressure before and after they achieve scale. Based on an inductive single case study approach, using the example of Airbnb Inc., this study investigates how digital platform-based ventures navigate the tension between remaining legitimate yet distinctive throughout the organizational lifecycle. Adopting a processual perspective, our findings reveal the strategies used by Airbnb to navigate the temporal dynamics of entering established industries. With a particular focus on the digital platform's efforts to achieve and maintain cognitive and sociopolitical legitimacy, this study aims to enhance knowledge regarding the formation and adjustment of organizational strategy and identity over time. Our proposed model of digital platform development reveals three distinct stages of strategy shifts, including demonstrating a sense of novelty, establishing dominant positioning in a broader market, and competitive differentiation to create value for customers. Furthermore, we show the primary triggers for change and the organizational identity change process in different stages of the organizational lifecycle

Business model renewal and ambidexterity: Structural alteration and strategy formation process during transition to a Cloud business model

This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study of a large corporation's transition to a new business model in the face of a major transformation in the ICT industry brought about by Cloud computing. We build theory on the process of business model innovation through a qualitative study that investigates how an established firm organizes for an emerging business model. Contrary to previous findings that presented spatial separation as the optimal structural approach for dealing with two competing business models, our findings indicate a need for recursive iterations between different modes of separated and integrated structures in line with the emergent nature of strategic intent toward the new business models. Our analyses reveal strategy formation to be a collective experimental learning process revolving around a number of alternative strategic intentions ranging from incremental evolution and transformation to complete replacement of the existing business model. Given the fundamental differences in the nature and requirements of those alternative intents, iterations between different structural modes and differing combinations proved to be crucial in enabling the organization to make transition to the new business model