Red Queen competitive imitation in the U.K. mobile phone industry

This paper uses Red Queen competition theory to examine competitive imitation. We conceptualize imitative actions by a focal firm and its rivals along two dimensions: imitation scope, which describes the extent to which a firm imitates a wide range (as opposed to a narrow range) of new product technologies introduced by rivals; and imitation speed, namely the pace at which it imitates these technologies. We argue that focal firm imitation scope and imitation speed drive performance, as well as imitation scope and speed decisions by rivals, which in turn influence focal firm performance. We also argue that the impact of this self-reinforcing Red Queen process on firms’ actions and performance is contingent on levels of product technology heterogeneity—defined as the extent to which the industry has multiple designs, resulting in product variety. We test our hypotheses using imitative actions by mobile phone vendors and their sales performance in the U.K. from 1997 to 2008

Hollywood studio filmmaking in the age of Netflix: a tale of two institutional logics

Abstract: Online streaming services are challenging long-standing decision-making processes in the traditional motion picture industry, thus placing Hollywood major studios at a crossroads. We use the institutional logics perspective to examine how both traditional studios and online streaming services make strategic decisions on which films to produce and how these films are to be distributed. We then apply scenario analysis to explore how their interaction will likely evolve. We argue that the key criteria that studio executives use to make production and distribution decisions are shaped by what we define as a commitment institutional logic: decision-making heuristics that focus their attention on theatrical release and box-office intakes. In contrast, online streaming services follow a convenience institutional logic, the product of advanced data analytics to increase subscriptions. In the convenience institutional logic, the need to drive online traffic by providing users with an extensive catalogue of movies guides film production and distribution decisions. Whereas the commitment logic aims for mass-market hits in cinemas, the convenience logic seeks to reach a wide range of subscribers at home with micro-segmented offerings. We compare the two logics, develop four scenarios of how the interaction between them may shape the film industry, and offer recommendations

Two Cheers For Diversity: An Experimental Study Of Micro-level Heterogeneity In Problemistic Search

In this paper, we argue for an expanded view of problemistic search. Recent behavioral theory research suggests that individual search preferences influence problemistic search. We draw on this to challenge the view of problemistic search as a centrally directed organizational process that proceeds sequentially from local to distant search. We argue that search activities in organizations are heterogeneous – some individuals will first engage in local search while others may move directly to distant search. We propose that problemistic search at the macroorganizational level is therefore the result of a mix of local and distant search activities at the micro-level that shifts towards distant search in response to negative performance evaluation. We test this idea in a laboratory experiment using a repetitive task and performance feedback

Living with offshoring: The impact of offshoring on the evolution of organizational configurations

Offshoring allows firms to pursue greater flexibility at lower costs, but it also presents major structural and managerial challenges. Adopting the activity configuration perspective, we argue that offshoring creates tensions between benefits to the competitive position of the firm, and potential disruption to the cohesion and consistency of the organization's internal activity configuration. We further argue that both benefits and risks increase as organizations move from offshoring low to offshoring high value-creating activities, and as they seek tight as opposed to loose couplings among offshored and onshored value-creating activities. Our research site is the UK operations of Tiscali, a European telecommunications firm. We examine how Tiscali uses offshoring as it grows and expands its service offerings from single, to double, and then triple play, and also analyze how Tiscali addresses the ensuing disruption to its activity configuration. We conclude with implications of our study to future research on offshoring

Beyond words: Aesthetic knowledge and knowing in design

Aesthetic knowledge comes from practitioners understanding the look, feel, smell, taste and sound of things. It is vital to work in many organizational contexts. In this paper, we explore aesthetic knowledge and knowing in organizations through detailed observation of design work in the architectural practice Edward Cullinan Architects. Through our research, we explore aesthetic knowledge in the context of architectural work, we unpack what it is, how it is generated, and how it is applied in design projects, shared between practitioners and developed at the level of the organization. Our analysis suggests that aesthetic knowledge plays an important part in organizational practice, not only as the symbolic context for work, but as an integral part of the work that people do. It suggests that aesthetic reflexivity, which involves an opening up and questioning of what is known, is experienced as part of practice as well as a `time out' from practice

Family Values and Inter-Institutional Governance of Strategic Decision Making in Indian Family Firms

In this paper we use new venture creation in Indian family firms to explore the family firm as an inter-institutional system. We argue that in societies where the traditional family dominates social and economic life, the relationship between the two institutions, the firm and the family, is managed via inter-institutional logics. These inter-institutional logics help reconcile the tensions that often arise in the family firms during strategic decision-making. We use archival and interview data on thirty-six new ventures in eight Indian family firms to identify these logics. Our analysis shows that the interaction between firm and family institutional logics in Indian family firms generates four sub-logics: Economic, Expertise, Reputation and Attachment. These four logics are used to frame and screen new venture opportunities and justify resource allocation