Emerging challenges for R&D executives — an American perspective

In recent years, many companies have witnessed dramatic changes in their business environment. Emergence of global markets and competitors coupled with new competitive strategies based on quality, speed and/or alliances have forced business managers — especially in the United States — to adopt new management strategies, structures and systems. These in turn have caused many R&D executives to progress from their traditional agenda of managing R&D activities in domestic laboratories to a new agenda of coordinating and integrating technology development and exploitation on a world-wide basis. This paper discusses this evolution of R&D management agenda in the United States and its implications. It also reviews the approaches being used and the experiences being gained by the American R&D management community to address the emerging challenges.     

Changing network pictures: Evidence from mergers and acquisitions

A merger or acquisition may cause dramatic changes in a business network, which in turn affect managerial cognition as well as managerial activities. We use the concepts of ‘network pictures’ and ‘networking’ to illustrate and analyse changes in managerial sense-making and networking activities following a merger or acquisition. The paper focuses on acquiring, acquired or merging parties and those companies with which they have direct customer relationships. Based on three case studies comprising seven acquisitions and one merger, we show that following a merger or acquisition managers may need to adapt their previous network pictures in a radical way; these adaptations are, however, not always realized as shifts in network pictures and adjustments in networking activities by all the managers involved. Whereas the merging parties' network pictures and networking activities are largely driven by their perception of customers' needs and developments, it is not certain that the merger or acquisition is enacted accordingly. The paper contributes to a clearer view on the conceptual interdependence of the constructs of network pictures and networking in multi-actor situations and thus it develops a network perspective on mergers and acquisitions.     

Bottom of the Pyramid as a Source of Breakthrough Innovations

In this paper, I identify the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) markets as a new source of radical innovation. By focusing managerial attention on creating awareness, access, affordability, and availability (4As), managers can create an exciting environment for innovation. I suggest that external constraints can be utilized to build an innovation sandbox within which new products and business models can be created. Using a live example of such an innovation—the development of the biomass stove for the rural poor in India—I illustrate the process and the usefulness of the approach. Increasingly, global firms are recognizing the implications of innovations at the BOP for developed markets as well.     

Inter-partner control,trust, and radical innovation of IJVs in China: A contingent governance perspective

International joint ventures (IJVs) in emerging markets need to develop radical innovation to compete successfully in the rapidly changing business landscapes there. Taking a contingent governance perspective, this study examines how formal and social governance mechanisms, namely inter-partner control and inter-partner trust, affect radical innovation development in IJVs through knowledge acquisition and integration, and how emerging market institutional governance structures moderate the effectiveness of the two internal governance mechanisms. Based on a sample of 181 IJVs in China, we find that both inter-partner control and inter-partner trust promote IJV radical innovation; moreover, legal enforceability weakens the impact of inter-partner control but strengthens that of inter-partner trust on IJV radical innovation; likewise, government intervention risk weakens the positive role of inter-partner control yet strengthens that of inter-partner trust. This study extends both the innovation and IJV governance literature by connecting governance mechanisms to IJV radical innovation and uncovering important institutional contingencies.     

Customer and Supplier Involvement in Design: The Moderating Role of Incremental and Radical Innovation Capability

More and more firms are leveraging design as a resource to gain the upper hand in today's competitive business market. To this end, this study draws on the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm to examine the relationship between customer and supplier involvement in the design process and new product performance. The research also extends the RBV to a contingency lens by introducing product innovation capability (incremental and radical) as a moderator to draw the boundary conditions of the impact of customer/supplier involvement in design on new product performance. Using data collected from Canadian high‐tech companies, the findings provide strong support for the hypotheses in that customer involvement in design helps new product performance under high incremental innovation capability but harms new product performance under high radical innovation capability. In contrast, supplier involvement in design was beneficial to new product performance under both high incremental and radical innovation capability. The managerial implications for the role of design under different innovation capabilities are discussed.     

Towards an integrated framework for managing the process of innovation

Innovation has become a major driving force for business growth and success. However, successful and sustained innovation represents challenges rooted in technological uncertainties, ambiguous market signals and embryonic competitive structures. Notably, in the management of innovation, many challenges still remain in both theory and practice, which demand improved managerial approaches. In this context, the development of a practical and explicit management framework for the process of innovation could be beneficial. This research sets out to develop the concept of ‘Innovation Readiness Levels’ (IRL), an explicit model for managing the process of incremental innovation. Basically, IRL is a framework depicting the development of an innovation over its lifecycle. Within the emerging framework proposed in this paper, five key aspects that determine the effective implementation of innovation are identified. The lifecycle of innovation is then divided into six phases, and for each phase, associated assessment aspects and criteria are identified. By providing better monitoring and control, IRL is intended to help implement innovation over the lifecycle more effectively. It is also expected to apply as a management tool, for which guidance of use is suggested.     

How to influence the birth of new business fields — Network perspective

This article explores the management challenges of emerging new business fields by using a network perspective. We are interested in the extent to which individual firms, by mobilizing cooperative networks of actors, can influence the emergence of radically new business fields. A framework describing the environment and the phases of emergence is proposed. Then the activities within each phase are discussed. Finally, we identify and examine the company-level capabilities involved in the management of these core activities. The study contributes to the management of new business fields.     

A NICE agenda for IMP research

The IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) Group has engaged in a number of interesting developments in the past few years. Particularly adventurous have been the agendas of ‘pictures’ and sense-making and of time. In this paper we argue that borrowing and combining contemporary foci within social science on narratives, identity, culture and epoché temporality (for which we use the acronym N.I.C.E) allows the construction of an approach that can integrate these IMP agendas into a new research direction for the group that will keep it at the leading edge of marketing research. The purpose of our paper is to introduce and integrate discursive and temporal elements into the understanding and research of business networks to develop a more dynamic and hermeneutic approach. Our purpose is to provide a contribution to the field in exploring how identities are formed within business networks through narrative episodes in interconnecting relationships over time. We bring together all of the elements of a NICE agenda in an attempt to provide an integrative, ‘multi-lens’ theory of business networks focussed within the IMP research tradition. In doing so, we construct meaning as itself networked; sense-making involves relating presently narrated episodes to symbolic and material aspects of other narrative network episodes and events through emplotment and storying.     

Environment, governance, controls, and radical innovation during institutional transitions

Researchers pay only limited attention to the problem of drive force of radical innovation in institutional transitions, especially in China. Drawing on both institutional theory, managerial control theory, and innovation theory, this study examines the roles of external and internal drivers to firms?? radical innovation. Specifically, we examine the effects of external institutional environment and internal corporate governance on radical innovation by introducing management control systems. Based on data from a sample of 585 firms in China, this study finds that the effect of institutional environment uncertainty on radical innovation is significant but formal corporate governance is not. These results suggest that firms facing an uncertain institutional environment emphasize both financial control and strategic control, and firms that have adopted formal corporate governance prefer strategic control to financial control. The implications of these findings for research during institutional transitions are discussed.     

The Role of Marketing Resources in Radical Innovation Activity: Antecedents and Payoffs

While radical product innovations represent significant engines of firm growth, questions remain over whether marketing helps or hurts (1) a firm's radical product innovation activity and (2) its rewards from radical product innovation activity. By attaching an attention‐based view of the firm to a market‐based assets view of marketing, this paper examines the role of three marketing resources—market knowledge, reputation, and relational resources—on radical innovation activity. Our conceptual framework posits differentiated effects among marketing resources as antecedents of radical innovation activity and as moderators of its impact on firms' financial performance. Using a survey of a broad set of high‐tech business‐to‐business (B2B) firms to test hypotheses, it is found that firms with strong relational resources enjoy a higher propensity for, and stronger financial rewards from, radical innovation activity. Reputational resources come with a trade‐off as they hurt the incidence of radical innovation but enhance its financial rewards. However, market knowledge resources appear to hurt both radical innovation activity and its financial rewards. Our results point to the multifaceted role of marketing in radical innovation activity, which is unlikely to come with a single benefit or liability as prior work often posits. Rather, our research heightens the alertness of managers to assess their firms' marketing strength as a bundle of stocks of several marketing resources. Managers must understand the distinct benefits and drawbacks of each resource in developing and launching radical innovations. Our research underscores the differentiated value of marketing in radical innovation activity in B2B high‐tech contrary to the entrenched idea of a limited or even stifling role of marketing in this context.     

Managing innovation for sustainability

‘Sustainability’ is a major and growing driver of business change. Its implications for innovation are clear – living and working in a world of up to 9 billion people with rising expectations, providing energy, food and resource security, dealing with climate change, ecosystem degradation, a widening economic divide and a host of other interdependent issues will require massive change in products, services, processes, marketing approaches and the underlying business models which frame them. The focus of this paper is to develop an understanding of new approaches to innovation management required to take account of the growing pressures and emerging opportunities in the ‘sustainability’ agenda. In particular, it draws on case studies of a variety of organisations to help answer the question of what practical actions might be taken beyond the rhetoric of moving towards greater sustainability or ‘greening’ of business.     

Trigger issues in emerging relationships

Classic IMP research always emphasizes the important role of actor bonds. Relationships involve the development of social bonds over time between two or more actors, and in most relationships there is great variation in terms of the time it takes for these actors to develop perceptions about each other. Interestingly, however, there is much less research about how business relationships come into being. ‘Business relationship emerging flow’ describes a potential process by which business relationships come into being, from a starting situation through the trigger issues which motivate the matching process, to the establishment of new relationships. This paper places its focus on the trigger issues which could boost emerging relationships. The birth of an important relationship with a Hungarian company is discussed using retrospective interviews with parties, suppliers and customers. For deeper understanding of these trigger issues and to make them more tangible and applicable, a theoretical, logical framework is developed using two dimensions: space and time. Trigger issues are analyzed along these two dimensions. The paper closes by considering theoretical and managerial applications and further research issues.     

Managing innovation networks: Exploratory evidence from ICT, biotechnology and nanotechnology networks

This study examines the management of innovation networks which has enjoyed increased recognition in the marketing literature due to its growing prominence and relevance. By testing a causal model relating network factors to outcomes, the study contributes to theory development on managing innovation at the net level of analysis. Consequently, it contributes to the respective marketing literatures on new product development, open innovation, industrial marketing and its emerging network management sub-stream. It also offers a methodological contribution as respondents include key players from businesses, government agencies, research organizations and universities rather than from only one focal organization as studies in extant literature have predominantly done. Findings are based on 219 responses from Australian high technology networks, namely, information and communications technology and biotechnology/nanotechnology. The study offers valuable implications for marketing managers involved in new product development and innovation concerning strategies for managing their inter-organizational innovation initiatives effectively.     

Models with graphical representation for innovation management: a literature review

In the last decades, the management of innovation has achieved increasing importance in both academic and business environments. For the companies, an effective engagement in innovation efforts involves the adoption of management models to guide the definition of organizational processes to conduct innovation opportunities throughout the organization. In this context, graphical representations can strongly communicate the central propositions of each model, accelerating the diffusion and influence of such models in both academic and business environments. Based on an academic database search, and snowball procedure, models were selected considering the unique characteristics of their graphical representation. This article contributes to the knowledge in the field by proposing a typology of innovation management models, highlighting model's biases, gaps, strengths and weaknesses, and by identifying important tensions among models that spillover to the innovation management field in both research and practice. This article discusses conflicts regarding the limits of the innovation process (events that start and end the process and complementary approaches), the limits of focusing on processes, the differentiation of research and development and new product development activities. In the end, the article addresses emerging approaches related to radical innovation, design thinking and startups, and stresses contributions for research and practice.     

Social capital in the growth of science-and-technology-based SMEs

There is increasing evidence of the positive role social capital plays in accessing resources and capabilities from and with other actors, and in establishing and maintaining business relationships. Yet, surprisingly little is known about how an organization's social capital and its utilization evolve over time. Focusing on this gap, this paper explores the role of social capital and its structural, relational and cognitive dimensions in the growth of science-and-technology-based SMEs. On the basis of our studies on social capital, entrepreneurial networks and SME growth, we develop a conceptual framework to describe their development through four overlapping phases, each of which involves different managerial tasks: innovation assessment, offering development, commercialization and rapid growth. The results of our longitudinal multiple case studies show that; (i) different types of networks and relationships are important in the transitional periods between the growth phases; and (ii) the role of social capital and its different dimensions varies in developing, maintaining and utilizing these partnerships and network relationships. These findings offer several managerial implications.     

Supporting new product commercialization through managerial social ties and market knowledge development in an emerging economy

While it has been advocated that the generation and application of market knowledge shape marketing capabilities to commercialize new products, the weak institutional environment makes access to critical market knowledge challenging in emerging economies. Critically, managerial social ties with business and political institutions may complement the firm’s market orientation (MO) to obtain market knowledge that is not available in the open market in emerging economies. This study draws attention to the differential roles of business and political ties in complementing or inhibiting the effects of market orientation on exploratory and exploitative marketing capabilities in one of the “Next Eleven” emerging economies, Iran. The results help firms operating in emerging economies to identify the conditions under which business and political ties help to overcome institutional limitations, complement market-oriented efforts, and successfully commercialize new products.     

The Effects of Mainstream and Emerging Customer Orientations on Radical and Disruptive Innovations

The merits of being customer‐oriented for firm innovation have long been debated. Firms focused on their existing customers have been argued to be less innovative. This paper distinguishes between mainstream and emerging customer orientations and examines their effects on the introduction of disruptive and radical product innovations. Radical product innovations draw on a substantially new technology and could initially be targeted at a mainstream or an emerging market. In contrast, disruptive innovations are initially targeted at an emerging market, and may not involve the newest technology. This paper hypothesizes that mainstream customer orientation is negatively related to disruptive innovation and positively related to radical innovation, and that emerging customer orientation is positively related to disruptive innovation. To test these hypotheses, longitudinal and multiple informant data from senior executives in 128 SBUs of 19 Fortune 200 corporations are analyzed, with technology scanning and willingness to cannibalize as key control variables. The results support the hypotheses, providing evidence for contrasting effects of being oriented to mainstream customers and/or emerging customers on radical and disruptive innovations. Mainstream customer orientation has a positive impact on the introduction of radical innovations but a negative impact on disruptive innovation, while emerging customer orientation has a positive effect on disruptive innovation and is unrelated to radical innovations. Technology scanning is positively related to radical innovation but not to disruptive innovation, supporting the idea that disruptive innovation may not require new technology. In contrast, willingness to cannibalize is positively related to disruptive innovation but not to radical innovation, supporting the idea that radical innovation does not require cannibalization of existing investments. Additionally, mainstream customer orientation is found to have a near‐zero correlation with emerging customer orientation, indicating that the two can coexist and can be pursued simultaneously.     

Co‐creation in Radical Service Innovation: A Systematic Analysis of Microlevel Processes

This empirical paper presents the results of a detailed case‐study investigation of co‐creation in radical service innovation. The rationale for the paper is that detailed interventions must be tracked to offer a realistic account of how co‐creation occurs. This provides a strong empirical contribution to the emerging body of scholars developing the co‐creation paradigm, predominantly characterized by conceptual advances in service‐dominant logic. Our focus is on radical service innovation, which is disruptive in the sector. The overall aim of the paper is to unravel the nature of microlevel processes of co‐creation in radical service innovation. The study adopts sequential analysis to examine co‐creation. Patterns of sequences of actions and interactions associated with 40 incremental developments, involving multiple actors, are investigated. These co‐created innovative developments underpin the emergence of a radical telematics‐based motor insurance service. The findings suggest that the co‐creation path is not simple or uni‐faceted, and the paper unravels the nature of complex patterns of activities and interactions, Our in‐depth systematic analysis illuminates a combination approach with two main patterns of sequences: one dominated by ad‐hoc and enduring independent innovation activities by network actors and one dominated by lead‐firm innovation and interaction activity. The findings advance knowledge of the way co‐creation occurs in radical service innovation. The study results suggest that managerial attention be placed to, first, finding ways to induce independent innovative behavior from network partners and, second, to the development of interaction mechanisms to foster sharing and visualization of such innovation advances.     

Managing asymmetries in information flows and interaction between R&D,manufacturing, and service in complex product development

Studies of new product development have demonstrated the value of effective interaction between research and development (R&D) and manufacturing, but few studies also include service operations despite their growing importance. Building on in‐depth studies of two firms in the capital goods sector, the paper illustrates how the structural differences between the R&D‐manufacturing and R&D‐service interfaces result in serious information and interaction imbalances, and presents managerial means to handle these. The paper makes three contributions. First, it shows the value of moving beyond a dyadic perspective to studies of more complex structures involving triads of specialized functions. Second, the paper underlines the role of informational flows that can compensate for asymmetries in such triads and facilitate thoughtful trade‐off decisions. Third, the paper highlights the importance of creating conditions for integrated knowledge‐based approaches across functions, which involve the generation and sharing of new knowledge. The paper ends with an emerging management agenda to support such integrative efforts in complex product development projects.