Corporate use of competitive intelligence persists despite its high risks

Firms face high costs, stigma and unproven benefits, argue Patrick Reinmoeller and Shaz Ansar

Crisis-driven innovation of products new to firms: the sensitization response to COVID-19

How firms address pressing societal needs during crises is not well understood. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted societies worldwide, and many firms quickly developed new product innovations in personal protective equipment – an area outside of their core businesses and with uncertain profitability but demanded by stakeholders. We conducted inductive case studies of eight firms to understand why firms pivot from shareholder- to stakeholder-oriented innovation of product categories new to the firm and how they satisfy new stakeholder needs during crises. The findings suggest a three-stage process model that explains how firms (1) internalize information signalling a lack of product supply that leads to urgent innovation needs, which in turn triggers a shift, (2) how the firm’s extant resources are understood and (3) thus how the capability assembly of new product innovation is initiated. We theorize that the increase in responsiveness to societal crises is a sensitization process. This process explains how for-profit product innovation prior to the pandemic led to the crisis-driven innovation of products new to the firm by temporarily suspending a profit orientation to respond quickly to calls for help. Implications for theory and practice are discussed

The Hidden Cost of Ubiquity: Globalisation and Terrorism

Terrorism is not a natural hazard outside the range of corporate decision-making. Simple micro-economic analysis shows how globalisation changed the supply of terrorist attacks and the costs for tolerating terrorist hazard. Approaches developed in organizational strategy help to single out three strategic decisions directly affecting the vulnerability of firms in a globalised world: exposure, geographical spread, and organisational form. The analysis suggests that the gains from ubiquity, leanness in production, and long-term commitment need to be adjusted for the terrorist hazard involved

Historical Attitudes and Implications for path dependence: FDI development and Institutional changes in China

This paper attempts to explain how institutions in the reform era of China have evolved by looking into the FDI policies and regulations. As history matters, we don’t look solely into the previous direct stage to the reform era, and rather look into a longer history starting from prior to the 14th century. The study shows that a dimension of time is crucial to understand institutional change in China. Though the initiation of the open-door policy in the reform era is commonly regarded as path-break event, we claim that this institutional change is a path dependent event from a longer historical view. The path takes a zigzag that is shaped by interaction among interested parties: the central government, local governments and economic agents (foreign investors in terms of the open-door policies). The historical study shows that mutual needs and their behaviours influence their attitudes which further influence institutional building. This also further implies how Chinese institutions may evolve in the future and what we should concern more about institutional changes in transitional economies

Peer effects and intentional entrepreneurial behaviour: a systematic literature review and research agenda

What role peers play in individuals’ decisions to become entrepreneurs and to what extent peer effects play a role in influencing behaviours at the various stages of business venturing are important questions for scholars and policymakers. This systematic review takes stock of the recent additions to the literature around the phenomenon of peer influence in entrepreneurship. The review identified 2894 documents which were then narrowed down through three consecutive filtering stages. We thematically analysed the final sample of 27 empirical studies that shed light on how individual peers influence the process and outcomes of these individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions and behaviour, allowing for critical analysis. We propose a conceptual schema of social influence that occurs in interactions among entrepreneurial individuals within business venturing and across the three stages of pre-formation, formation and growth. Our framework reconciles the conceptual classification around discovering, evaluating and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities with the mechanisms of social influence affecting entrepreneurial behaviours. Grounded in the findings of the literature review, this framework synthesizes peer influence in entrepreneurship with the tripartite distinction of the behavioural motives recognized in contemporary theories of social influence. We suggest promising directions for further research on how interactions with peers might affect individuals’ entrepreneurial behaviours

Open-system orchestration as a relational source of sensing capabilities: Evidence from a venture association

Research on innovation networks has highlighted the pivotal role that actors with more prominence and power, such as hub firms, may play in orchestrating the activities of other network members along a collective innovation effort. Our study examined the undertheorized, but no less important, type of orchestration that characterizes other organizations, such as business incubators and venture associations, who seek to support the dispersed entrepreneurial efforts of network members. We refer to this type as ‘open-system’ orchestration, as opposed to the commonly studied ‘closed-system’ type performed by hub firms. Our findings reveal how the processes of open-system orchestration differ markedly from those of closed-system orchestration, and detail how these processes influence the micro-foundations of network members’ sensing capabilities. By doing so, we also offer empirical substantiation and theoretical elaboration to the idea that dynamic capabilities might not reside exclusively inside firms, but could be co-created relationally with other parties in the business ecosystem

Produktsprache: Verstaendlichkeit des Umgangs mit Produkten durch Produktgestaltung

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel A 210883 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

How paradox resolution strategies sustain tensions ::an exploratory study in the context of NPD

Paradoxical tensions are pervasive throughout organizations and arise from the simultaneous pursuit of conflicting objectives. While paradox theory suggests the alternating use of ‘accommodation’ and ‘choice’ strategies in response to existing tensions, little is known regarding how these strategies may, in turn, impact future levels of tension. The question of whether resolution strategies can be used as a tool to regulate the level of tension in a given task environment is an important one as tensions can either foster creativity and synergy or, conversely, trigger anxiety and inertia. Consequently, the following study investigates the causal mechanisms between the use of specific paradox resolution strategies and resulting levels of tension in the context of new product development projects

The effect of paradox mindset diversity on team innovativeness

Innovation projects include periods of simultaneous engagement in exploratory and exploitative activities. The conflicting nature of these tasks leads teams to experience greater levels of paradoxical tensions. Prior research has shown that these tensions can be either beneficial or detrimental to innovation, and that the ability to think paradoxically is essential to unlocking their potential. In this study, we examined how the distribution of paradox mindsets within teams plays a role in leveraging paradoxical tensions for greater innovativeness. Using data from 42 teams working on junior consulting mandates, we found that the diversity – rather than the absolute level – of paradox mindsets within a team has a positive moderating effect on the otherwise negative impact of paradoxical tensions on innovativeness