Report: EMCRA — The chemical division of EVAF

It is editorial policy to encourage officials, of the European Association for Industrial Marketing Research (EVAF), to write occasional articles on the activities of EVAF. In this article Mr. J. W. Vernon, Chairman (UK) of the European Chemical Marketing Research Association (ECMRA), has written a refreshingly frank “history”, and discussed the promising future plans, of the Chemical Division of EVAF.     

Design — the starting point for CIM

The author reviews the spectrum of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) aids now available to speed up the development, manufacture and marketing of new products. To help firms to decide which aid is best suited to their needs the author presents a 2-by-2 typology of business environments, the dimensions being uncertainty and complexity. For each cell he derives a factor critical to achievement of competitive advantage, to which is matched a suitable form of CIM.
The paper includes a survey of the characteristics and limitations of commercially available hardware and associated software, advice on the administration of the systems and the storage of information generated. The author concludes by defining the key to the successful use of CIM as ensuring its conscious integration into the business, which means having a clear understanding of what is involved in design and development, management awareness of and commitment to the potential usefulness of CIM, defining clear responsibilities for creating and owning data and planned introduction of a design and engineering information system.     

Innovation promoters — A multiple case study

This paper empirically examines the role of innovation promoters in loosely-coupled inter-organisational innovation projects. With a starting point from existing literature on innovation promoters, it seeks to develop a theoretical framework for analysing the particular challenges of inter-organisational innovation projects. Data from seven inter-organisational innovation projects provides the empirical setting of the paper, and these data are analysed on the basis of an inductive, interpretive approach. The paper results in the development of four types of innovation promoters (power, expert, process and relationship). In addition, the results indicate the substantial challenges of dividing the labour between several promoters in inter-organisational innovation projects. The paper concludes with some managerial and research implications.     

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.     

Research Collaborations by Multi-National Research Oriented Pharmaceutical Firms: 1988–1997

In this paper we survey collaborations on research by 22 of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world. In particular, we discuss the benefits and costs of collaborations on research and we review the existing literature on these issues. We present data for these major research-oriented pharmaceutical firms focusing on collaborations that deal with research, the technologies associated with these collaborations, and the firms that collaborate with these 22 multi-nationals.     

“Lock-in” vs. “critical masses” — Industrial change under network externalities

Where increasing returns to adoption play a role in the diffusion of a new technology, technological “lock-in” is now often claimed to occur. However, this result, and the modeling approach that produces it, are problematic. Further innovations could never have a chance of disseminating, if “lock-in” had occurred in the diffusion process of earlier innovations. Yet, in reality, industrial change does not come to a halt. The paper offers a discussion of the apparent paradox. From an alternative modeling approach conditions are derived under which a newly introduced technology can successfully disseminate in the market despite existing network externalities.     

Mobilizing crisis management networks — Entrepreneurial behavior in turbulent contexts

Severe socio-economic issues that threaten peace, life or wellbeing of humans in specific regions of the world cannot be solved by any single actor. Wide networks of political, business, governmental, non-profit and humanitarian organizations are to be involved to change existing practices. Despite conflicting interests and competing behavior, involved organizations need to act collectively to initiate the change of commonly accepted practices, i.e. institutions. This is the space in the present study for examining network mobilization as a collective means to change institutions. Our aim is to answer the question: How are networks mobilized in crisis management to initiate institutional change processes in socio-economically turbulent contexts? We provide a framework of network mobilization for institutional change built on the IMP rooted network mobilization research and institutional entrepreneurship discussion. The framework is reflected upon by means of insights from an interview-based case study with representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in worldwide humanitarian peace-building. We identify, firstly, incentivizing, reticent and adaptational behaviors of network mobilizers to utilize legitimacy and relationship sediments as mobilization enablers. Secondly, these behaviors help network mobilizers to overcome actor visibility and unpredictability as mobilization obstacles in turbulent contexts.     

Interdisciplinary research centres — a problem in strategy and management

Interdisciplinary research centres (IRCs) in the UK were originally set up by the UK Advisory Board for Research Councils (the ABRC) to foster cross-disciplinary basic research. This activity was seen to be a fruitful way to help British industry overcome some of its current technological shortcomings. The author describes the strategy pursued by the ABRC in setting up the IRCs, their location, staffing policies, relationship to industry and other characteristics.
The author indicates the problems faced by IRC managements in the present situation. There is financial stringency, they have to ensure continuity of expertise, a problem posed by the ABRC's insistence on a very small permanent core staff at each centre, and they have the difficult task of directing basic research, which has its own internal logic, towards externally defined objectives thought to be relevant to the British national interest.
The author believes that only radical change can guarantee a successful future for the IRCs but is pessimistic that the ABRC's present tactics will procure it.     

Rise of strategic nets — New modes of value creation

This paper focuses on the type and management of intentionally created business networks called nets. Nets are extensively being used to achieve a variety of benefits over those of a single firm or market transaction. We propose that the effective management of different types of business net is dependent on their underlying value creation logic. Based on this notion a value creation framework of three generic net types - ‘current business nets’, ‘business renewal nets’, and ‘emerging new business nets’ - is suggested. We argue that they pose widely different conditions and requirements for net management. The management mechanisms of these basic net types are then identified and discussed. We contend that the proposed contingency framework captures the complexity and variety of the expanding strategic business nets in a more valid way than the extant classifications of network organizations. The paper contributes to the emerging theory of network management.     

Understanding attractiveness in business relationships — A complete literature review

The concept of attraction has received surprisingly little attention within business relationship research. Yet, recently, more and more authors have argued that attraction may contribute to the motivation and willingness of a buyer and supplier to engage in and develop a business relationship. However, the concept of attraction is relatively new and there have been diverse interpretations of it. This literature review collates those interpretations with the aim of enhancing current understanding and creating fundamental knowledge of the current streams of literature on the concept. In examining how the concept has been investigated, the paper aims to establish the direction that the understanding and use of the concept of attractiveness may take in the future in the context of business research. The literature review indicates that attraction has been used in three research areas to explain or resolve a particular construct: 1) attraction in the development of buyer–supplier relationships, 2) customer attractiveness to suppliers, and 3) attractiveness in portfolio and key account management. This literature review contributes to the understanding of how knowledge of the power of attraction could enrich the theory and practice of business relationships.     

Minimum Wage Impacts from a Prespecified Research Design: Canada 1981–1997

Neumark (2001 ) used the novel methodology of a prespecified research design to estimate the employment effect of minimum wage changes. We conducted our analysis in the “spirit” of this methodology based on Canadian data from 1981 to 1997. Our minimum wage elasticities are substantial, typically in the range of ?0.14 to ?0.44, with ?0.30 being a reasonable point estimate, and with the effects being larger after lagged adjustments.     

Communication between R&D and its customers — a study of BT Laboratories

Aspects of communications between people working in R&D laboratories and their customers in the operating divisions of a company have been analysed, based on a series of in-depth interviews with people working in British Telecommunications plc (BT) Laboratories. Formal and informal communication channels interact to some extent, and their use is affected substantially by the type of customer for a particular project. Senior managers use informal networks to a greater extent than managers at lower levels, and are more likely to communicate about process rather than project matters.     

The changing role of middlemen — Strategic responses to distribution dynamics

Middlemen in distribution are challenged by considerable changes in their business contexts.