Re-charging the costs of R&D: when is it appropriate?

A scheme of recharging the costs of individual R&D projects to internal ‘customers’ in a company is described and its possible advantages discussed. A particular case, recharging in a nationalized industry, is examined and it is concluded that most of the advantages would be difficult to realize; other measures, more suited to individual circumstances, are likely to improve the effectiveness of such corporate R&D. The discussion is generalized to consider which methods of R&D funding are appropriate to different contexts.     

What is the function of a figurine? Can the repertory grid technique tell?

Teaching design and product development at upper secondary school level in Sweden is a matter of interdisciplinary considerations. Education in product development, at this level, prepares students for further studies and career in engineering or industrial design. Knowledge of artefacts is an important element in the education. In coherence with the visual and rhetorical strategies characterising the knowledge field, students learn how to develop an idea to a final product. In this study twelve engineers and industrial designers, professionals representing the knowledge field of product development are studied regarding their interpretations of eight pre-selected artefacts. Data is collected and analysed using repertory grid technique. The aim of the study is to examine whether/what we can learn from the informants’ experiences and knowledge that is relevant to education in design and product development at upper secondary school level. Findings show that four of the artefacts appear to be carriers of attributes that reveal the interviewees’ definitions of the artefacts’ functional nature. From these findings it is shown that the interviewees’ definitions of concepts concerning aesthetics/decoration and function can be seen as cultural expressions. How the repertory grid technique is used in this particular study is thoroughly described and the results relevance for education is discussed.     

“We do what we must,and call it by the best names”: Can deliberate names offset the consequences of organizational atypicality?

Research summary: This article focuses on organizational naming as a strategic choice organizations make to overcome liabilities of atypicality. We argue that, in markets presenting an “illegitimacy discount,” atypical organizations may use deliberate names—names that communicate the market categories to which organizations claim membership—to offset the consequences of atypicality. Using data from the global hedge fund industry, we show that atypical hedge funds are more likely than typical funds to have deliberate names. Importantly, the selection of a deliberate name is economically significant. First, funds with deliberate names grow faster than funds without deliberate names, especially among atypical funds. Second, while atypicality heightened the likelihood of failure during the recent financial crisis—even after controlling for fund performance—having a deliberate name mitigated this effect. Managerial summary: Differentiation is a core element of many organizations' competitive advantage. Nevertheless, as differentiation implies being atypical among one's competitors, differentiation strategies can also lead to an “illegitimacy discount” whereby differentiators are at risk of being misunderstood, miscategorized, and ignored by consumers. Here we investigate how atypical hedge funds—funds that differentiate themselves from their competitors by investing in notably unique ways—use names to offset the potential consequences associated with the “illegitimacy discount.” Our analysis of more than 12,000 hedge funds over 12 years highlighted a trend whereby atypical hedge funds were more likely to choose names that unambiguously associated them with a known investment strategy—for instance, choosing the name “Apex Global Macro Capital” over simply “Apex Capital.” Importantly, name selection proved to be economically significant. For example, among atypical hedge funds, those with unambiguous names grew faster than those without. Furthermore, while being atypical increased the level of disinvestment during the recent financial crisis, having an unambiguous name reversed this effect. Organizational names play an important communication role with consumers, which, while highly symbolic, may also help resolve the dual organizational need to both conform to consumer expectations and differentiate from market competitors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

PERSPECTIVE: first,fast, and on time: the path to success. or is it?

To be competitive, and become the industry leader, the firm needs to be fast, first, and on time, or so the story goes. Fast development cycle times, first to market, and schedule predictability are the three basic principles of new product development performance, but what does the evidence actually show? A review of current research, schedule performance data, and cycle time data shows that following these principles does not necessarily lead to success. Recent studies indicate that being first to market is not necessarily any better than being second, third, or even fifth. Several leading companies in the fast cycle time movement are rethinking their first-to-market strategy, and some are deliberately lengthening their cycle times. Finally, the correlation between schedule accuracy and business results is practically nonexistent in the product lines reviewed for this article. The evidence found while researching this article has led the authors to recast these three traditional principles into three new market-focused guiding principles: effective market introduction timing, first to mindshare, and managed responsiveness. To provide direction in applying these three principles, three types of market windows are defined: imposed, controllable, and emergent. How one approaches each of the three guiding principles is driven by which type of market window the organization is operating within, and other business characteristics, such as market position and the ability to differentiate.     

Can real-effort investments inhibit the convergence of experimental markets?

Evidence shows that real-effort investments can affect bilateral bargaining outcomes. This paper investigates whether similar investments can inhibit equilibrium convergence of experimental markets. In one treatment, sellers' relative effort affects the allocation of production costs, but a random productivity shock ensures that the allocation is not necessarily equitable. In another treatment, sellers' effort increases the buyers' valuation of a good. We find that effort investments have a short-lived impact on trading behavior when sellers' effort benefits buyers, but no effect when effort determines cost allocation. Efficiency rates are high and do not differ across treatments.     

“Can we build it? Yes,we can!” complexities of resource re-deployment to fight pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries asked their domestic firms to produce various medical equipment. Many firms promised to do so, including redesigns of existing ventilators or designing new ones. Despite these firms' enthusiasm, however, many of their attempts at being resourceful- through deploying their resources in activities beyond their current use- were unsuccessful. Our study attempts to explain why the success of these efforts varied. We integrate concepts of resourcefulness, managerial cognition, and product architecture to develop a typology of resourcing approaches, using a firm's characteristics and resources, its interpretative frames, and the technical and regulatory characteristics of the product being resourced for as boundary conditions. We illustrate our theorizing through case studies on the manufacturing of face shields, hand sanitiser, face masks, and medical ventilators. Our study provides important implications for firms attempting to deploy their resources in new contexts.     

What is dark about the dark-side of business relationships?

Over the last decade or so, the term ‘dark-side’ in referring to business relationships has been increasingly used in academic discourse. Despite such a growth in the number of studies, relatively little critique has been offered among scholars. The fact that effectively managing the dark side of business relationships has potentially greater influence of contributing to inter-organizational success beyond more focus on the positive side necessitates an urgent critique surrounding ‘what is dark about the dark side of business relationships?’ Thus, we aim to provide an overview relating to the ‘dark side’ of business relationships in a quest to generate greater debate on the subject.     

Whose Image is it Anyway?: Some Considerations of the Curricular Importance of Subject Image in Secondary School Design and Technology Education

This paper explores the idea that a sense of school subject image is a necessary feature of curriculum management and a potent force for change. The discussion centres on the view that all school subjects have an image and that if those intimately involved with the subject do not control the image then someone else does! In such circumstances the image is the product of past encounters and old euphemisms and is unlikely to hold the changed realities.The UK developments in Design and Technology education (the term Design and Technology is used to denote the school subject defined under this heading by the UK National Curriculum, 1995) have created something of an image problem which has interesting international parallels. Some of these problems are due to clearly discernible internal tensions and an ambiguous relationship with other subject areas.Through greater attention to subject image internal controversies might be acknowledged and resolved, relationships with other subject areas can be more meaningfully understood and practitioners can be helped to make sense of curriculum change.     

Who is governing whom? Executives,governance, and the structure of generosity in large U.S. firms

We examine how organizational structure influences strategies over which corporate leaders have significant discretion. Corporate philanthropy is a strategic activity commonly managed through a specific, differentiated organizational structure—the corporate foundation—that formalizes and constrains the influence of individual senior managers and directors on corporate strategy. Our analysis of Fortune 500 firms from 1996 to 2006 shows that characteristics of senior management and directors affect corporate philanthropic contributions. We also find that organizational structure constrains the philanthropic influence of board members, but not of senior managers, a result contrary to what existing theory would predict. We discuss how these findings advance understanding of how organizational structure and corporate leadership interact and how organizations can more effectively realize the strategic value of corporate social responsibility activities.     

What does it take to make the most of supplier relationships?

The supply context of companies has changed substantially during the past two decades because of outsourcing, globalisation and digitalisation, and through growing concern for sustainability and public procurement. These changes, combined with recognition of the potential benefits to be derived from more extensive involvement with suppliers, have made the task of purchasing and supply management broader and more complex. This paper's aim is to examine how the evolving supply context affects the scope of purchasing and supply management and what the consequences for management are. We argue that effective use of supplier relationships involves three main issues – interacting in supplier relationships, dealing with supply network interdependences and handling dynamic changes in the supply context. Coping with these matters requires: (i) conceptual tools that support monitoring and sense-making of what is on-going at the supply side of the firm; (ii) the individual and organisational skills and capabilities required to develop workable solutions; and (iii) organisational arrangements to support the development of these solutions.     

Ubiquitous technologies and 5G development. Who is leading the race?

The introduction of the fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) is expected to bring disruptive changes. These changes will be much more pervasive than any previous introduction of new mobile ‘generations’ and they are expected to influence the whole economy. For this reason, the global rush for 5G technology is not only considered crucial in economic or technological terms, but also for its implications in terms of geopolitics, international policy and national security.This paper presents an analysis of the patents in the most relevant fields of specialization connected to the 5G development. The period under investigation is from 2010 to 2019, and the data are extracted from the European Patent Office (EPO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. The analysis shows how the technologies and the specialisations needed to develop 5G are in the hands of a few countries around the globe, and how single European countries, taken in isolation, are not among those leading players. However, Europe, considered as a whole, competes well with the US and Asia in terms of patented innovations, suggesting the economic and strategic relevance of strengthening cooperation within the EU.     

Can biotechnology reach the poor? The adequacy of information and seed delivery

The paper examines the expectation that biotechnology can provide significant benefits for smallholder farmers. It uses evidence from current seed systems and variety choice in developing countries. In particular, it examines the adequacy of information flow and the performance of seed markets. Many of the biotechnology innovations proposed for use by smallholders feature qualities that may not be immediately obvious to farmers; implications are drawn for the potential demand for these transgenic varieties. The adequacy of seed systems is also examined, including the characteristics of local seed diffusion and the experience of commercial seed enterprises. The paper concludes that investments in public biotechnology must be accompanied by policies that encourage commercial seed system development and that empower farmers to be able to take full advantage of new technology.     

What is the objective of professional licensing? Evidence from the US market for lawyers

According to public interest theory, professional licensing solves the lemon problem generated by asymmetric information. In contrast, the capture theory claims that licensing aims at increasing professional salaries by restricting supply. This paper shows that the two theories can be identified using data from one regulated profession and provides an empirical application to the US market for entry level lawyers. The empirical results support capture theory.     

Risk assessment in the international food safety policy arena. Can the multilateral institutions encourage unbiased outcomes?

Two institutions provide multilateral venues for countries to discuss food safety measures at the international level: the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) and the World Trade Organization. Both institutions encourage their Members to base food safety standards on scientific evidence.     

Housing Tenure Transitions of Older Households: What is the Role of Child Proximity?

This study examines the role of proximity of children to their parents and recent moves of children within a proximate distance in housing tenure transitions of older households. This study is the first to investigate the interplay between health status of older households, moves of their children and a household's decision to make housing tenure transitions. In doing so, we rely on longitudinal household data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with residential location information at the census tract level. The results demonstrate that after controlling for the financial and demographic characteristics of children, living near children reduces the likelihood of making a housing tenure transition for older households, but that the impact of distance is not monotonic with respect to the degree of geographic distances. The results also demonstrate that if a child enters or moves closer to her or his parents’ home, it increases the probability that older households exit homeownership. Finally, we find no evidence that children's moves mitigate the likelihood that their older parents whose health deteriorates become renters.     

Adoption of electronic systems in HRM: is national background of the firm relevant?

This paper explores how the national background affects the use of e‐HRM, using data from 13 European countries. Findings suggest that the adoption of e‐HRM is region‐specific and affected by multiple factors. They also support the existence of two distinct sets of HRM technological systems, that is, back‐end and front‐end ones.