Examining alliance management capabilities in university-industry collaboration

Effective university-industry technology transfer requires universities to maintain and strengthen research and technology capabilities on the one hand, but also to develop and strengthen management capabilities to build and manage relationships with external partners on the other hand. This research seeks to advance the knowledge on university-industry collaboration by examining how managerial routines that in sum reflect the concept of alliance management capability influence success of outward university technology transfer. The results of an empirical study with academics from different universities in Germany offer insights into net effects and configurational effects of routines to manage interorganizational collaboration on technology transfer success. The findings indicate that academic units’ alliance management capability has a significant positive effect on technology transfer success. In addition, the findings indicate different configurations of alliance management routines, reflecting alternative, consistently sufficient pathways to technology transfer success. This knowledge contributes to current debates by disclosing important predictors of successful university-industry collaboration. In addition, it informs decision makers in universities about how to configure management systems to govern outward technology transfer activity

Understanding Smart Product-Service System Value Offerings: A Comparative Case Analysis

Although smart product-service systems (SPSS) have attracted increasing interest from manufacturers in recent years, their commercialization can pose major challenges. This study aims to advance the SPSS literature by examining the pillars of manufacturers’ SPSS value offering strategies. Using a sociotechnical perspective and a configurational approach, this study examines how manufacturers configure SPSS value offerings. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis based on data from a qualitative study reveals three different configurations of sociotechnical factors that are consistently sufficient to achieve an attractive SPSS value offering. From a theoretical perspective, insight into these configurations advances the understanding of complementarities among sociotechnical factors for SPSS. From a managerial perspective, the configurations provide templates for evaluating existing organizational work systems as well as design options for developing new ones

Net versus combinatory effects of firm and industry antecedents of sales growth

This study examines antecedents of sales growth using a two-step mixed-method approach including analyses of net effects and combinatory effects. Based on a sample of 453 respondents from manufacturing and service firms, this article shows how the combination of structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) provides more detailed insights into the causal patterns of factors to explain sales growth. This article contributes to the extant literature by highlighting fsQCA as a useful method to analyze complex causality (specifically combinatory effects of antecedent conditions) and by discussing options regarding how this approach can be used to complement findings from conventional causal data analysis procedures that analyze net effects

When does alliance proactiveness matter to market performance? A Comparative Case Analysis

Relationships with external partners can provide several benefits for firms. To obtain such benefits, firms must develop competencies and capabilities that enhance their ability to create and capture value in inter-organizational collaborations. In this article, we focus on one of these capabilities: alliance proactiveness. Drawing on configuration theory, we examine the performance effects of alliance proactiveness within the broader context of the firm and its market environment. Using a sample of 68 firms involved in technology transfer, we examine the interplay between alliance proactiveness and two major sets of factors—organizational factors and environmental factors—to identify configurations sufficient for market performance. The findings of a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis indicate the co-existence of alternative configurations for market performance that differ in their particular composition but are consistently sufficient pathways to market performance. Knowledge of these configurations yields novel insights into the complex pattern of causal factors and helps develop factor constellations in which alliance proactiveness is indeed effective and enhances market performance

Relational norms in customer–company relationships: Net and configurational effects

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Relational norms in customer–company relationships: Net and configurational effects journaltitle: Journal of Business Research articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.101 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Relational norms in customer–company relationships: Net and configurational effects journaltitle: Journal of Business Research articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.101 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Relational norms in customer–company relationships: Net and configurational effects journaltitle: Journal of Business Research articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.101 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc

Key account management as a firm capability

Firms manage numerous inter-organizational relationships. Key account management (KAM) is a concept used to manage a specific subset of these relationships, i.e. a supplier firm's relationships with strategically important customers. Scholars have studied different elements of KAM such as actors, resources, or relationships. Surprisingly few studies discuss the link between KAM and competitive advantage. By adopting a capability perspective on KAM, we seek to develop a theoretical basis to better explain its performance-implications. The capability perspective is compatible with extant approaches and complements them with new arguments concerning the value that a KAM system has in competition. The purpose of our article is to develop a conceptual model of a supplier firm's KAM capability and to indicate avenues for future research

Mind the gap: A process model for diagnosing barriers to key account management implementation

Today, many firms develop and implement key account management (KAM) programs to manage the relationships with strategically important customers. The implementation of KAM programs requires the configuration of special activities, actors, and resources dedicated to key accounts, which poses major challenges for managerial practice. Firms often underestimate the fundamental organizational change required for a successful implementation of KAM. The objective of this article is to advance extant knowledge on KAM by developing a framework that outlines essential processes to assess and diagnose barriers to KAM implementation. In our article, we integrate extant knowledge on KAM organization and enactment, and we propose a four-step process model that links the concepts of embeddedness, differentiation, integration, and alignment. In addition, we illustrate our model in a case study analysis with a large-scale European industrial company. The findings of our study allow us to derive avenues for further research on KAM implementation as well as implications for management practice