Commentary on “Governance and resource interaction in networks: Venture capital's role in a biotech start-up”

This commentary discusses the main findings and contributions of the article by Strömsten and Waluszewski (this issue) on the interplay between venture capitalists and start-ups. The commentary stresses the importance of bringing together analytically the three worlds of VC governance, innovation processes and network interactions, which management theory tend to treat as separate phenomena.     

A commentary on “The role of actors in combining resources into complex solutions”

This commentary essay summarises and explicates two important observation made by Cantù, Corsaro and Snehota in this special issue and discusses the implications for the future study of managing resource interaction in inter-organisational networks. First, consider the importance of the recognition of the duality of actors’ roles; as providers and users of resources in a combining and recombining systems of change and innovation. Second, the recognition of multiple points of value creation that emerges within the network during the process of combining and integrating resources to create customer solutions.     

Commentary on “Resource use and development across permeable project boundaries in open network contexts”

The purpose of this commentary is to analyze the paper “Resource use and development across permeable project boundaries in open network contexts”. Focus lies on commenting on the value of the paper in light of existing research on business networks. The paper is analyzed from a general, theoretical and empirical perspective. The conclusion of the commentary is that there are important contributions of the paper. It clearly adds to our understanding of resource use and development in business networks as it introduces a context involving several actors in a system of open innovation.     

Comment on “Resource interaction in inter-organisational networks: Foundations, comparison, and a research agenda”

This commentary discusses the article by Baraldi, Gressetvold and Harrison (this issue), which reviews the foundations and implications of the resource interaction perspective. The discussion stresses the Penrosean legacy of this perspective but also its potential to expand the Penrosean framework beyond intraorganisational applications, that is, to an understanding of markets and networks.     

Resource interaction in inter-organizational networks: Introduction to the special issue

This article introduces the special issue of Journal of Business Research on the topic of resource interaction in inter-organizational networks. Both networks and resources receive considerable attention in the field of business studies. As companies specialize further and rely on cooperative agreements with external parties, the importance of networks is gaining increasing recognition. Resources are typically a key factor for identifying a company's competencies, or its sources of growth, profitability, and sustained competitive advantage. This special issue takes a novel approach by directing attention toward the processes of interaction in which companies combine and recombine resources at the network level. This approach provides new insights into the development, production, exchange, and use of resources. The introductory article also reviews the 13 articles in this special issue and concludes by discussing their contributions to the fields of marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship, and logistics.     

Comments on “Managing resource interaction as a means to cope with technological change”

This commentary to the article by Chou and Zolkiewski (in this issue) discusses some consequences of their adoption of a focal net approach. First, emphasis is put on the perspective of the focal firm and boundary considerations in network analyses. This is followed by a discussion of how the roles of actors are dealt with, and its consequences. The commentary concludes that it is important how these issues are treated for determining what the case is about, how to analyze the case, and what conclusions that can be drawn.     

Commentary on “The role of innovation in driving the economy: Lessons from the global financial crisis”

This commentary reacts to an article by Hausman and Johnston advocating innovation and entrepreneurship as keys to solving the current global financial crisis published in this special issue. The commentary is a valuable resonance board for my own ideas that, in some respects, deviate from those of the authors. I start from a partially different paradigm than the authors, as my theoretical platform is a new science of marketing and service that emerged during the 2000s. I find many of the suggestions logical and thoughtful, but primarily academic and US-centric. Will they work in practice, and especially on a global scale? I think the suggested solutions will work under certain conditions, but the world is imperfect and the necessary conditions are often absent. For example, the article shows confidence in the ability of governments to regulate and control and of research to contribute with more advanced metrics. Here I have doubts. I also find economic and management disciplines require new aspects for proposed solutions to work. Among these new aspects are the lack of genuine corporate social responsibility, growing corruption and crime, and the role of financial leaders whose behavior opened a new research field called “corporate psychopathy.”     

Institutionalizing Ethical Innovation in Organizations: An Integrated Causal Model of Moral Innovation Decision Processes

This article answers several calls—coming as well from corporate governance practitioners as from corporate governance researchers—concerning the possibility of complying simultaneously with requirements of innovation and ethics. Revealing the long-term orientation as the variable which permits us to link the principal goal of organization, being “survival,” with innovation and ethic, the article devises a framework for incorporating ethics into a company’s processes and strategies for innovation. With the principal goal of organizations being “survival” in the long-term, it is assumed that innovation is necessary in order to realize a going concern. Firms that do not innovate and adapt to rapidly changing business environments are less likely to be sustainable. Thus, it is in a business’ best interests to adopt an innovation process for long-term success. We posit that there are two simultaneous sources of innovation and change that are unavoidable and embedded in the corporate landscape. First, we argue for genetically embedded, Darwinian explanations for adaptations that enable an entity’s survival. This view is combined with more conventional, social science explanations for change. Our new, comprehensive model of the governance of innovation processes hinges on the one hand on an organization’s long-term orientation, which we argue, is not possible without a consideration of an ethical dimension. On the other hand, the model employs, for the first time, the concept of duality, in order to make the positive coexistence of innovation and ethic analytically visible. Guided by this concept the roots of the ethic within innovation are traced from both natural science forces for change, and cultural pressures operating on members of an organization. We present our Integrated Causal Model of Innovation and propose theoretical relationships that will generate numerous avenues for future research in the field, and help managers to reorient their governance strategies.     

Rejoinder to commentary on Chien, Cornwell, and Pappu (2010): Advancing research on sponsorship portfolio effects

This article responds to the issues Bibby (2010) raises in his recent commentary essay on Chien, Cornwell, and Pappu (2010). The rejoinder focuses on brand meaning's definition, measurement, construct delineation and operationalization, and cautions against outright rejection of Aaker's (1997) brand personality scale applied to the sponsorship context. Further, criticism by Bibby of employing Aaker's scale in Australia seems unwarranted given similarities in cultural values between Australia and the United States. Bibby (2010) also questions the legitimacy of event personality fit effects but the questions potentially misinterpret the construct used by Chien et al. (2010). While this rejoinder admits to the challenges of brand personality measurement, theory-testing goals of Chien et al.'s (2010) research are not compromised by the measures employed.     

A commentary essay on “Resources prospectively: How actors mobilize resources in business settings”

This commentary essay explores the topic of mobilizing resources and specifically addresses the article “Resources prospectively: How actors mobilize resources in business settings” (Finch et al., in this issue). This article views access to resources as the foundation for interaction between firms and as mediated via developing business relationships. The article by Finch, Wagner and Hynes adds insights into this particular context by investigating the role of the individual in mobilizing resources and initiating a discussion on how resources are created.     

From internal resources to collective opportunities

This commentary essay explores some conceptual elements for research on new business formation as opportunity creation in resource networks and goes on to examine the methodological requirements of such research. Ciabuschi, Perna and Snehota (this issue) provide an interesting discussion and illuminating case study on new business formation through global resource combining in business networks. The rich, in-depth study opens several avenues for future research.     

Unpacking the relationship between an innovation strategy and firm performance: The role of task conflict and political activity

This article adds to extant literature by examining the contingent effect of two cross-functional processes on the relationship between the use of an innovation strategy and firm performance, namely, task conflict and political activity. The authors examine the effects of these processes with a sample of 260 firms. The positive relationship between the use of an innovation strategy and firm performance is stronger for higher levels of cross-functional task conflict and lower levels of cross-functional political activity. Furthermore, the authors find support for a configurational hypothesis: the innovation strategy-firm performance relationship is strongest for the high task conflict/low political activity configuration and weakest for the low task conflict/high political activity configuration. The results unveil two important cross-functional mechanisms influencing the extent to which the benefits of an innovation strategy can be reaped.     

Collaboration on technological innovation in Danish fashion chains: A network perspective

With brand owners struggling to compete with new products, physical production processes and sourcing logistics, innovation taking place in retail networks is often overlooked. Networks in retailing are comprised by the brand owner, the varieties of single- and multi-brand stores, chains and departments stores, technology and service providers, ownership structures and local level supply chain facilities. This paper analyses theoretical and empirical views of innovation in international retail networks using lead actors in the (Danish) fashion industry as a case to highlight how this industry maintains branded stores as primary retail channels better than other industries. In order to approach the retail network as an important organisational innovation system in relation to brand owners, the aim of this paper is to characterise key elements of innovation in retail networks. The approach of this work is based on four qualitative studies of medium/larger fashion brand owners and their respective retail and service provider networks. The study shows that innovation in retailing has a continuously emergent character with open-ended strategic design requirements and strong utilisation of relations in business networks. The network comprises an innovation system that focuses on organisational learning and iterative development of the intended technologies. Implications of the current study are suggestions to brand owners, network partners and retailers on how to identify, understand, support and promote innovation via this network through systematic management of the network rather than the innovation itself.     

Advancing the country image construct — A commentary essay

This article provides a review of the study by Roth and Diamantopoulos (2009), “Advancing the country image construct,” with a view towards highlighting the gaps in the broader country-of-origin literature. The literature mostly ignores pivotal points that should influence both the direction and the design of country-related research in international marketing. At least six key considerations in country-of-origin research deserve concurrent attention in future studies. They include: (1) the globalization of markets, (2) ecologically appropriate designs, (3) country-of-origin knowledge, saliency, and use, (4) labeling practices and requirements, (5) a focus on appropriate segments, and (6) the role of country of origin in foreign direct investment process. This commentary essay explores these issues with a view towards enhancing the relevance, ecological validity, and the quality of future research efforts.     

Innovation management in service firms: a research agenda

This article suggests an agenda for further research on innovation management in service firms. It investigates differences and similarities between issues identified by previous academic research and issues brought up by practitioners within the area of innovation management in service firms. The results show that there are some major differences; for instance, researchers stress a need for formalized processes for development work, while practitioners focus on facilitating innovation in everyday operations. The main conclusion is that in order to bridge the gap between research and practice we would encourage further research on innovation in service firms to (1) conduct micro studies of innovation work, (2) view innovation in the context of everyday operations and (3) focus on co-workers’ innovative potential.     

Abstract Knowledge and Reified Financial Innovation: Building Wisdom and Ethics Into Financial Innovation Networks

This article argues that abstract knowledge in the form of formally developed theory plays an increasingly important role in the economy and in financial innovation in particular. Abstract knowledge is easily reified, and this is an aspect of knowledge work that is insufficiently researched. In this article, we problematize reification of abstract knowledge in financial innovation from wisdom, ethics, and social network analysis perspectives. This article, therefore, considers the composition and structures of financial innovation networks that help avoid reification by building ethicality through social practice wisdom. Finally, we discuss future directions that empirical ethics research can take.     

Organizational innovation as an enabler of technological innovation capabilities and firm performance

This study assesses the relationship between organizational innovation and technological innovation capabilities, and analyzes their effect on firm performance using a resource-based view theoretical framework. The article presents empirical evidence from a survey of 144 Spanish industrial firms and modeling of a system of structural equations using partial least squares. The results confirm that organizational innovation favors the development of technological innovation capabilities and that both organizational innovation and technological capabilities for products and processes can lead to superior firm performance.     

The integration-responsiveness framework and subsidiary management: A commentary

This commentary article discusses the appropriateness of using the integration-responsiveness framework for studying subsidiary management. The framework is frequently used and highly accepted in the international business literature, but the research contributions of applying the framework can be questioned. This commentary article discusses the applicability of the framework from a theoretical point of view, and furthermore, argues that it is difficult to empirically test subsidiary strategies and management based on hypotheses derived from the framework, and that the implications that can be drawn have limited theoretical content.     

Knowledge stock, exploration, and innovation: Research on the United States electromedical device industry

This study applies the knowledge-based view of the firm to examine the relationships between exploration, characteristics of knowledge stock, and innovative performance. The article argues that the effectiveness of exploration on innovation is contingent upon two dimensions of knowledge stock: knowledge depth and knowledge breadth. Empirical findings from the US electromedical device industry between 1990 and 2000 provide support for this contingency argument.     

The battleship strategy: The complementing role of born globals in MNC’s new opportunity creation

In the high-tech industries, new innovations affect a multinational company’s (MNC’s) competitive advantage. This article empirically explores why and how MNCs complement their in-house R&D by forming strategic alliance constellations with small, innovative born globals. We focus on loose, non-equity opportunity-seeking co-opetitive relationships. We call this approach the battleship strategy. The critical elements of an MNC’s battleship strategy include an open innovation commercialization strategy and creation of forums for facilitating open innovation and capturing ideas generated externally. Hence, we suggest that MNCs may externalize some of their innovation activities while gaining a competitive advantage through access to open innovation. This article contributes in several ways to earlier research focusing on the strategic alliances and networks formed between MNCs and born globals by examining the relationship from an MNC’s perspective.