| Organizational capabilities for continuous innovation |
| | Verona, Gianmario | Bocconi U., Milan | gianmario.verona@sda.uni-bocconi.it | (02) 5836-6824 |
| | Ravasi, Davide | Bocconi U. | davide.ravasi@sda.uni-bocconi.it | 39-02-5836-2540 |
| | The study explores the capabilities that contributed to Oticon’s - a leading firm in the hearing aid industry - unrivalled ability to develop and introduce new products during the nineties. Our findings suggest that continuous innovation in a hypercompetitive environment can be sustained by devoting specific resources to the development of scientific knowledge (a capability we have termed “science focus”) and by shaping an organizational context that stimulates dispersed innovative contributions to the overall strategic renewal process (“creativity push”). Evidence from the study suggests also that a loosely-coupled organizational architecture is crucial in taking full benefits of these fundamental capabilities. A loose architecture allows the integration of the various pieces of component knowledge required to develop new products and at the same time leaves a high degree of freedom for pursuing autonomous innovative initiatives and developing new scientific knowledge. By widening the spectrum of valuable capabilities to be deployed in product development, this study contributes to the emergent literature on continuous innovation and to the Resource-based View of the Firm. |
| | Keywords: capabilities; innovation; case-study research |
| Adaptive Capacity and Innovation Performance |
| | White, Steven | Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology | mnsw@ust.hk | 852+2358-7732 |
| | This paper proposes that adaptive capacity, a firm's ability to exploit both internally and externally developed new know-how, is an important factor affecting innovation and financial performance. Data from 152 Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers is used to test hypotheses linking adaptive capacity to two measures of innovation performance: increased capital productivity and new products. Consciously managed, a firm's adaptive capacity could enable it to leverage better its sources of new know-how. Thus, it has important implications not only for firms in developing countries, but for any firm whose competitiveness depends on effectively exploiting new know-how originating within the firm or in another organization. |
| | Keywords: capabilities; innovation; China |
| Collaborative Management of Emergent Constraints: Participant Observation of a Software Development Team |
| | Rollag, Keith Wesley | Stanford U. | krollag@leland.stanford.edu | (650)-723-3858 |
| | Previous studies of computer programming work have either focused on cognitive theories of individual programmers or coordination theories of software development at the project or organizational level. Few researchers have directly examined the work practices of programming teams. Based on participant observation of a software development team I suggest that group-based programming work can be partially characterized as individual cognitive activity punctuated by scripted patterns of social interactions designed to identify and manage emergent constraints on programming effort. Knowledge and technical constraints in programming frequently emerge through action, and newly emergent constraints often become highly salient and pressing to programming teams. Changing or clarifying project constraints (e.g., scope, resources, timing, etc.) can alter the emergence rate of knowledge and technical constraints. Monitoring the type and frequency of social interactions triggered by emergent constraints may help technical managers anticipate critical development issues and evaluate the effect of project decisions on group productivity. |
| | Keywords: Computer Programmers,; Constraint Management,; Participant Observation |
| What's In an Organizational Routine? "Unpacking" Knowledge Management |
| | Levin, Daniel Z. | Rutgers U. | levin@everest.rutgers.edu | (973) 353-5983 |
| | This paper looks inside the "black box" of organizational learning and organizational knowledge flows to show
how a critical organizational routine--the technology roadmapping (planning) process--operates in practice in
multiple companies. Whereas much of the literature depicts organizational learning as a kind of sterile,
anonymous process of building organizational skills and competencies, this research finds organizations that
have the knowledge and skills in place, yet are still not fully successful at implementing this technology
planning process. Based on a cross-case comparison at multiple firms, this theory-building study concludes
that favorable outcomes for a knowledge-intensive routine (or, process) such as roadmapping require not just
an organizational ability to absorb knowledge (e.g., by having a common language and an intelligent reduction
of complexity), but also a high degree of comfort with the situation (e.g., comfort with the technologies, the
people, the process itself) and the use of power and influence (including both hierarchical and structural)
within the organization to make the knowledge flow happen. One side-benefit to this theoretical framework is
that it allows one to go beyond the statement that "context matters"; rather, this paper proposes that contextual
factors will influence a technology management process like roadmapping by affecting one or more of its three
underlying components: ability, comfort, and power. In addition, for managers and scholars alike, these three
theoretical components should prove useful as leading indicators of success, rather than the usual lagged
measures, in the technology management domain. |
| | Keywords: knowledge; routines; technology |