Subsidiary driven innovation within shifting MNC structures: identifying new challenges and research directions

The multinational (MNC) as an arena primed for the creation and sharing of innovations is well established. Within this arena, the creation of innovations is borne from leveraging the unique knowledge and opportunities of its globally dispersed subsidiaries. The recent emergence of more transactional and cost focused approaches to the allocation of organisational activities within the MNC, under what is termed a ‘global factory’ structure, now challenges this dominant view whilst also providing a good vantage point to look back at research to date and to project the future impact of these changes. In the absence of research which hybridises recent literature on innovation with current insights from the international business domain this review paper contributes to our understanding of the impact of this shift by analysing current theory and practices to identify how narrower subsidiary roles, increased monitoring and constraints on combinative capabilities all have implications for managing innovation across the MNC. A key contribution is presented via the modelling of current inhibitors of subsidiary innovation, advancing new and compelling insight into how a shift towards the fine slicing of value chain activities across the organisation threatens not only subsidiary driven innovation but also has longer term implications for MNC competitive advantage. We conclude the paper by highlighting critical issues for management in this emerging MNC landscape and by identifying the rich opportunities for relevant and responsive research presented by these new challenges

Internationalising Family Run Business: Overcoming Conflict, Embracing Cohesion and the role of Entrepreneurship

Family run businesses, despite their importance to both local economies and at a broader national level have traditionally received significantly less attention in business research than either Small to Medium Enterprises (SMES) or new venture business start-ups. The study proposes to examine the internationalisation of family run businesses with a focus on cohesion, leadership and the role of entrepreneurship, both during and directly thereafter the critical interim of expanding operations across international borders. Proposing a multiple case study methodology, we intend to explore the practicalities of how family run enterprises expand beyond their national borders and embrace wider, international markets. Further, the study proposes to examine the unique idiosyncracries inherent in the context of family run businesses; notably the importance of succession planning, managing paternal relationships and overcoming internal human resourcing conflicts through collective negotiation

Subsidiaries, Competencies and the Implementation of Dynamic Capabilities

Practitioners are increasingly urged by popular press and academia to add value and develop their business units by building dynamic capabilities; but both the academic theory and press fail to give a comprehensive definition as to what constitutes a dynamic capability and how they can be developed. The purpose of this paper is to explore and ultimately build upon the current literature in addressing this need, thereby contributing to managerial and academic thinking on dynamic capabilities and then to discuss the potential managerial implications in a subsidiary context. This is in response to identifying the gap both theoretically and empirically in ascertaining the factors which impact upon the development of dynamic capabilities in a restrictive subsidiary context amidst turbulent global environments. How subsidiaries can develop dynamic capabilities and establishing the relationship between dynamic capabilities and contribution is thus a pivotal area of analysis and inquiry. It is therefore imperative that it be investigated how subsidiaries can, within the confines of their organisational structure, protect and enhance their position within the MNC through building dynamic capabilities. The intent of this paper is to explore the literature at this juncture in identifying and construing the most prevalent debates within the theoretical grounding to date. These avenues of inquiry include defining the dynamic capability (DC) concept with clarity, illustrating its distinction from organisational capabilities, and a discussion of the hierarchies of capabilities identified. This is in addition to discussing issues of sustainability and competitive advantage as a central area of debate. The discussion of the DC framework is set in the context of MNC subsidiaries, in exploring the managerial implications of developing DC’s and how this can influence upon subsidiary performance

Correlation and Regression

A correlation is a measure of the linear relationship between two variables. It is used when aresearcher wishes to describe the strength and direction of the relationship between twonormally continuous variables. The statistic obtained is Pearson’s product-momentcorrelation (r), and SPSS also provides the statistical significance of r. In addition, if theresearcher needs to explore the relationship between two variables while statisticallycontrolling for a third variable, partial correlation can be used. This is useful when it issuspected that the relationship between two variables may be influenced, or confounded, byA correlation is a measure of the linear relationship between two variables. It is used when aresearcher wishes to describe the strength and direction of the relationship between twonormally continuous variables. The statistic obtained is Pearson’s product-momentcorrelation (r), and SPSS also provides the statistical significance of r. In addition, if theresearcher needs to explore the relationship between two variables while statisticallycontrolling for a third variable, partial correlation can be used. This is useful when it issuspected that the relationship between two variables may be influenced, or confounded, by the impact of a third variable. Correlations are a very useful research tool but they do not address the predictivepower of variables. This task is left to regression. Regression is based on the idea that theresearcher must first have some valid reasons for believing that there is a causal relationshipbetween two or more variables. A well known example is the consumer demand for productsand the level of income of consumers. If income increases then demand for normal goodssuch as cars, foreign travel will increase. In regression analysis, a predictive model needs tofit to both the data and the model. And then we can use the result to predict values of thedependent variable (DV) from one or more independent variables (IVs). In straight forward 2terms, simple regression seeks to predict an outcome from a single predictor; whereas2terms, simple regression seeks to predict an outcome from a single predictor; whereas multiple regression seeks to predict an outcome from several predictors.multiple regression seeks to predict an outcome from several predictors

Building routines for non-routine events: Supply chain resilience learning mechanisms and their antecedents.

Organisations must build resilience to be able to deal with disruptions or non-routine events in their supply chains. While learning is implicit in definitions of supply chain resilience, there is little understanding of how exactly organisations can adapt their routines to build resilience. The aim of this study is to address this gap. An in-depth qualitative case study based on 28 interviews across five companies exploring learning to build supply chain resilience. This study uncovers six learning mechanisms and their antecedents that foster supply chain resilience. The learning mechanisms identified suggest that, through knowledge creation within an organisation and knowledge transfer across the supply chain and broader network of stakeholders, operating routines are built and/ or adapted both intentionally and unintentionally during three stages of a supply chain disruption: preparation, response and recovery. This study shows how the impact of a supply chain disruption may be reduced by intentional and unintentional learning in all three disruption phases. By being aware of the antecedents of unintentional learning organisations can more consciously adapt routines. Furthermore, findings highlight the potential value of additional attention to knowledge transfer, particularly in relation to collaborative and vicarious learning across the supply chain and broader network of stakeholders not only in preparation for, but also in response to and recovery from disruptions. This study contributes novel insights about how learning leads both directly and indirectly to the evolution of operating routines that help an organisation and its supply chains to deal with disruptions. Results detail six specific learning mechanisms for knowledge creation and knowledge transfer and their antecedents for building supply chain resilience. In doing so, this study provides new fine grained theoretical insights about how supply chain resilience can be improved through all three phases of a disruption. Propositions are developed for theory development.n/

Industry Boundary Perspectives and Opportunity Recognition within Creative Professional Service Firms

The aim of this paper is to extend insight into entrepreneurship within creative professional service firms (creative PSFs). Entrepreneurs within creative PSFs are both artists and professionals within a commercial organization. This peculiarity creates a dichotomy across firms within the sector depending on whether their capability development is more oriented towards developing novel services or efficient services (Canavan et al., 2013) for their clients and this is influenced by the driving motivations of the underlying entrepreneurs. Our preliminary research exploring entrepreneurship within creative PSFs suggests that entrepreneurs have varying perspectives of the boundaries of their industry in terms of who they are targeting and who benefits from their service. Our intuition guided by this preliminary research, together with calls by scholars within the field to explain how industry boundaries facilitate the recognition and exploitation of opportunities (Hoskisson et al., 2011) provided the basis for our study within the context of creative PSFs. Exploring this phenomenon within the creative PSF sector is particularly relevant and interesting because of the dichotomous conflict between art and business which enables richer theorizing and contextual insights to emerge through cross case comparison

How Creative Professional Service Firms Internationalize: a business model portfolio approach

Traditional theory of firm internationalization assumes all firms are homogeneous in their approach to managing uncertainties and implementing business strategies when internationalizing. A business model portfolio approach articulates a more complex process and suggests that firms adopt a portfolio of business models to balance uncertainties. Combining these two perspectives, this multiple case study research design explores how creative professional service firms (creative PSFs) internationalize. Creative PSFs such as architects are embedded in their local cultures, operating at the intersection of business and art. Our study reveals the complexities of creative PSF internationalization, showing that in contrast to existing explanations, multiple combinations of business models are adopted to manage uncertainty. We use these novel insights to develop a business model portfolio approach to understanding the internationalization process. This research paper brings relevant and important contributions to both the international business and business model literature

Neighborhood deprivation, vehicle ownership, and potential spatial access to a variety of fruits and vegetables in a large rural area in Texas

OBJECTIVE: There has been limited study of all types of food stores, such as traditional (supercenters, supermarkets, and grocery stores), convenience stores, and non-traditional (dollar stores, mass merchandisers, and pharmacies) as potential opportunities for purchase of fresh and processed (canned and frozen) fruits and vegetables, especially in small-town or rural areas. METHODS: Data from the Brazos Valley Food Environment Project (BVFEP) are combined with 2000 U.S. Census data for 101 Census block groups (CBG) to examine neighborhood access to fruits and vegetables. BVFEP data included identification and geocoding of all food stores (n = 185) in six rural counties in Texas, using ground-truthed methods and on-site assessment of the availability and variety of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables in all food stores. Access from the population-weighted centroid of each CBG was measured using proximity (minimum network distance) and coverage (number of shopping opportunities) for a good selection of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables. Neighborhood inequalities (deprivation and vehicle ownership) and spatial access for fruits and vegetables were examined using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test and multivariate regression models. RESULTS: The variety of fruits or vegetables was greater at supermarkets compared with grocery stores. Among non-traditional and convenience food stores, the largest variety was found at dollar stores. On average, rural neighborhoods were 9.9 miles to the nearest supermarket, 6.7 miles and 7.4 miles to the nearest food store with a good variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, respectively, and 4.7 miles and 4.5 miles to a good variety of fresh and processed fruits or vegetables. High deprivation or low vehicle ownership neighborhoods had better spatial access to a good variety of fruits and vegetables, both in the distance to the nearest source and in the number of shopping opportunities. CONCLUSION: Supermarkets and grocery stores are no longer the only shopping opportunities for fruits or vegetables. The inclusion of data on availability of fresh or processed fruits or vegetables in the measurements provides robust meaning to the concept of potential access in this large rural area

An Assessment of Posterior Composite Restorations in a Non-Adult Population

The aim of the present work was to test two posterior composite restorative materials (Herculite and Occlusin) against a non-gamma 2 dental amalgam, in a pragmatic clinical study and to measure the material loss

How do Organisations Engage in Marketing Strategy Making? A Problemistic Search Perspective

Despite the importance of marketing strategy making (MSM) we understand little of how strategy making actually occurs within organisations. Departing from the common focus - on the tools and techniques of strategy– we apply a strategy as practice (SAP) lens to our exploration of MSM. We adopt a problemistic search perspective and utilise an in-depth case study to explore individual’s interactions in developing strategic marketing initiatives. We uncover a three-stage pattern in solution search within MSM; identification of the problem situation and postponing response, to problem recognition and acceptance, to a collective problem solving stage, which we label pre implementation consultation. The paper’s main contribution is the development of an initial framework placing a pre-implementation phase between formal and emergent strategy, providing a dynamic theory of MSM