Unobtrusive Maintenance: Temporal Complexity, Latent Category Control and the Stalled Emergence of the Cleantech Sector

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies Disruptive innovation changes the basis of competition within an industry and poses substantial threats for market incumbents. While researchers have focused on whether incumbents can successfully adapt, we know little about how potentially disruptive innovation may be avoided. Studying clean technology in Canada, we examine incumbent resistance when potentially disruptive technologies are seen as socially beneficial. We identify actions taken by incumbents and other socio-technical regime actors to respond to the issue while simultaneously enacting legitimate stabilizing mechanisms within the regime’s institutional infrastructure. Specifically, temporal and resource-based actions led to temporal complexity for disruptive cleantech entrepreneurs, and evaluation structuring work led to latent control of the cleantech category, privileging incumbents and resulting in unobtrusive maintenance. Our findings contribute to the disruptive innovation and institutional theory literatures by showing how disruption may be stalled by the enactment of legitimate elements of the institutional infrastructure rather than direct institutional defence

The who, where, what, how and when of market entry

This introductory, along with the eight articles contained within this Special Issue, highlights and brings greater clarity to entrant-incumbent interactions and to firm movement - when entrants traverse market territories for the creation and/or delivery of offerings, where 'markets' include service or product categories, technology or resource spaces, industries, sectors and/or geographies. Collectively, this Special Issues explains that firm movement across market boundaries is highly consequential, influencing resource-capability mixes inside firms, interfirm relations, market logic and industry value chains, and of course, people, communities and even nations. Specifically, we develop a field-wide perspective of market entry by expanding on the framework of market entry that Zachary and his colleagues developed (Zachary et al., 2015) - i.e., the who (players such as incumbents, entrants, suppliers, etc.), when (the timing and sequence of entry), how (the strategy, resources, capabilities, etc.), where (the space of entry) and what (product, service, business model, etc.) - to include two additional categories: complements (networks, platforms, ecosystems) and non-market elements (government, political, social and cultural arrangements). We also summarize the eight highly diverse and insightful articles that make this Special Issue, and conclude with a discussion to highlight foundational questions that point to new directions in future research in this field. In sum, we hope to inspire scholars to go beyond counting outcomes (e.g., entry/exit rates, or profiling successful versus unsuccessful entrants), to consider contexts, processes and contingencies (e.g., cost, time, collaboration, competition, interfirm relations, etc.) and to discover boundary conditions that inform a theory of market entry

The opportunity not taken: The occupational identity of entrepreneurs in contexts of poverty

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Innovative entrepreneurship is an essential but often missing outcome of poverty alleviation efforts. This qualitative study set in rural Ghana explores the occupational identity of entrepreneurs, the institutions that shape it in isolated “island networks” and how it influences entrepreneurs’ practices and decisions. We find that the institutional forces of “collectivism” and “fatalism” feature prominently. Being an entrepreneur in such settings means being a mentor, market link, and community safety net, and the types of opportunities entrepreneurs pursue are largely seen as pre-destined and inherited rather than individually chosen. As a result, the pursuit of innovative opportunities may be significantly limited

Relationship between probability of future shoulder arthroplasty and outcomes of arthroscopic debridement in patients with advanced osteoarthritis of glenohumeral joint

Abstract Background Arthroscopic glenohumeral debridement for symptom control has shown promising short term results in the young active population, when arthroplasty may not be a practical option due to the recommended activity restrictions, potential for complications and/or early wear, and a need for revision. The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to examine the impact of arthroscopic debridement with or without subacromial decompression on clinical outcomes in patients with severe glenohumeral osteoarthritis (OA), and 2) to explore the differences in post-debridement outcomes between patients who eventually progressed to arthroplasty vs. those who did not. The role of an active worker’s compensation claim was examined. Methods Prospectively collected data of patients who were not good candidates for shoulder arthroplasty and had subsequently undergone arthroscopic shoulder debridement were used for analysis. Disability was measured using the relative Constant-Murley score (CMS), the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeon’s (ASES) assessment form, pain free range of motion (ROM), and strength. Results Fifty-six patients were included in the final analysis. Eighteen (32 %) patients underwent arthroplasty surgery (arthroplasty group) over a period of 11 years. The arthroplasty group was comparable with the non-arthroplasty group prior to debridement but was more disabled at post-debridement surgery follow-up, functioning at less than 50 % of normal based on ASES, relative CMS, and active painfree ROM. In the multivariable analysis, the post-debridement relative CMS was affected by having a compensation claim and having a future arthroplasty. Conclusion Arthroscopic debridement improved clinical outcome in 68 % of patients suffering from advanced OA of glenohumeral joint. Having less than 50 % of normal score in ASES, relative CMS and painfree ROM post- debridement within a period of two years may be an indication for future arthroplasty. Role of worker’s compensation claims should not be underestimated