Entrepreneurial initiatives as a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show how entrepreneurial initiatives in organizations serve as a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities and, thus, foster change in organizations. Design/methodology/approach - This paper revises and applies conceptual as well as empirical research on dynamic capabilities, their microfoundations and corporate entrepreneurship. In addition, it develops a model of how entrepreneurial initiatives, operative routines and capabilities interact. Findings - The paper develops a model of how entrepreneurial initiatives in organizations represent a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities. First, the model shows that environmental dynamism reduces fit of operative routines and capabilities. Second, the model states that entrepreneurial initiatives are triggered by operative routines and capabilities in respect of environmental dynamism. Third, the model suggests that entrepreneurial initiatives disrupt operative routines and capabilities and, thus, restore their fit in dynamic environments. The paper contributes to current research on dynamic capabilities, their microfoundations and corporate entrepreneurship. Originality/value - This paper addresses the tension between routinization and the entrepreneurial nature of dynamic capabilities. Considering entrepreneurial initiatives as a microfoundation shows that dynamic capabilities might be entrepreneurial, but still preserve their patterned nature enabling repeated execution. This approach provides a way to reconcile the two sub-streams in dynamic capability research and preserve their ontological assumptions. Moreover, this paper extends the literature on dynamic capabilities by ascertaining how individual and group level entrepreneurial initiatives operate within a broader context

Internationale Personalentsendungen als strategischer Erfolgsfaktor

Personalentsendungen haben eine strategische Bedeutung für Unternehmen. Der Buchbeitrag zeigt zunächst auf, worin diese strategische Relevanz begründet liegt. Hierbei wird insbesondere auf Aspekte des Wissensmanagements und des Talent Managements eingegangen. Im Anschluss werden Kriterien eines erfolgreichen Entsendungsmanagements beschrieben. Diese umfassen die Gestaltung des Entsendungsangebots, die Auswahl geeigneter Expatriates, die Vorbereitung, Begleitung und Repatriierung, die Modularisierung der Instrumente sowie Compliance-Themen. Das Buchkapitel schließt mit einer Zusammenfassung und einem Ausblick ab

Agilität in wissensintensiven Organisationen : von der Produkt- zur Dienstleistungsorientierung

Agilität gilt heutzutage als Schlüsselfähigkeit, mit der Organisationen erfolgreich in dynamischen Umwelten überleben können. Es ist jedoch bislang unbekannt, wie komplexe, wissensintensive Organisationen Agilität fördern können. Eckpfeiler agiler Organisationen sind die Etablierung ambidextrer Strukturen und deren Vernetzung sowie eine ausgeprägte Dienstleistungsorientierung

How individuals perform customer knowledge absorption practices - a contextual approach to open innovation

Enabling individuals to perform open innovation practices requires an in-depth analysis of the context in which those practices are enacted. However, research on the context within which open innovation is practiced, is still in its beginning. This paper develops a theoretical framework of the relationship between open innovation practices, individuals performing those practices, and context factors that enable or constrain those individuals carrying out open innovation practices. Moreover, the paper reports empirical research on context factors enabling or constraining salespeople in performing customer knowledge absorption practices, a specific subset of open innovation practices, in a pharmaceutical packaging machines firm. The paper contributes to open innovation research by (1) advancing a contextual view on open innovation, (2) emphasizing the need to distinguish between open innovation practices that provide an analytical tool to unravel the social dimension of open innovation, and (3) identifying context factors that enable or constrain customer knowledge absorption

Process multiplicity and process dynamics : weaving the space of possible paths

In research on process organization studies, the concept of multiplicity is widely used, but a fundamental confusion about what process multiplicity means persists. As a result, we miss some of the potential of this concept for understanding process dynamics and process change. In this paper, we define process multiplicity as a duality of ‘one’ and ‘many’, and we conceptualize ‘the many’ as a space of possible paths encompassed by a process. We use the notion of paths to operationalize process multiplicity and make it accessible for empirical research. When we see process as a multiplicity, process change can be understood as expanding, shifting or contracting the space of possible paths. We suggest that this concept of process multiplicity also has implications for a range of other theoretical and practical topics, including standards, standardization and flexibility as well as process replication, management and resilience

Rollen-Anforderungen zur Zusammenarbeit in Scrum Teams

Unternehmen setzen agile Methoden wie Scrum ein, um schneller und flexibler auf sich ändernde Umweltbedingungen und Kundenwünsche reagieren zu können. Die Arbeit in Scrum Teams zeichnet sich durch inkrementelle Planung und Selbstorganisation aus und erfordert neue Kompetenzanforderungen. Um diese zu bestimmen, wurden 156 Stellenanzeigen für die Rollen Product Owner (PO) und Scrum Master (SM) analysiert. Den Schwerpunkt der Kompetenzanforderungen bilden für beide Rollen sozial-kommunikative und personale Kompetenzen. Das Kompetenzprofil des PO ist breiter als das des SM und die Fach- und Methodenkompetenzen haben auch eine höhere Bedeutung

Medicus Adaptabilis – Wenn Fachwissen alleine nicht mehr ausreichend ist

Dieser Beitrag weist auf die zunehmende Bedeutung der Veränderungsfähigkeit in Organisationen allgemein und im Gesundheitswesen im Besonderen hin. Die zu beobachtenden demographischen Entwicklungen, das steigende Gesundheitsbewusstsein sowie die fortschreitende Digitalisierung erfordern eine rasche Anpassungsfähigkeit auf allen Ebenen des Gesundheitswesens. Es wird aufgezeigt, über welche Kompetenzen die Beschäftigten zukünftig verfügen müssen, um den Trends in der Gesundheitsbranche erfolgreich zu begegnen. Darüber hinaus wird diskutiert, welchen Beitrag das Kompetenzmanagement zum Aufbau dieser Kompetenzen leisten kann

We are all pattern makers! : how a flat ontology connects organizational routines and grand challenges

Adopting a flat ontology, we discuss how phenomena of societal concern are connected to organizational routines. We conceptualize grand challenges as large patterns of actions to overcome the micro-macro divide prevalent in existing research. We introduce spatial, temporal, and agentic relations as three interrelated aspects of scale that are of particular interest and demonstrate how social phenomena may be approached through these relations. Focusing on the situated enactment of routines allows us to identify weakening and strengthening between actors and their actions as important processes that reflect the continuous patterning of grand challenges. We contribute to the literature by highlighting the consequentiality of mundane actions and by questioning the dominant approach to change in research on grand challenges. Our insights offer several practical implications for intervening on grand challenges.Academy of Finland Research Fellow Gran