“Squeezing R&D”: A Study of Organizational Slack and Knowledge Creation in NPD,Using the SECI Model

During new product development (NPD), functional areas such as marketing, R&D, and manufacturing work together to understand customer needs, create product concepts, and solve technical issues. NPD is dependent on the creation of new knowledge and the interplay between tacit knowledge (knowledge that is difficult to articulate and codify) and explicit knowledge (knowledge that can be codified and documented). Knowledge creation requires time and resources, and the dichotomy facing senior management is how much spare capacity in NPD teams—so‐called organizational slack—is appropriate. Too much organizational slack and precious development resources will be wasted; but when slack is eliminated, there is a danger that knowledge creation will be severely hindered. There have been very few studies of organizational slack at the project level, and so the aim of our research was to examine the impact of changes in organizational slack on knowledge creation in NPD projects. Six projects were studied at two companies, over a two‐year period. Multiple sources of data were used to determine how changes in organizational slack impacted knowledge creation, which was operationalized using Nonaka's socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization (SECI) model. It was found that the creation of knowledge in NPD projects is susceptible to changes in organizational slack. A significant finding was that every time there were changes in organizational slack, there was always some impact on knowledge creation. Increased slack enabled knowledge creation; but, importantly, the impacts of decreasing organizational slack were often very negative and disrupted the work of NPD teams, particularly at the end of projects. Managers who feel that “squeezing R&D” is important should think again—their action might disrupt knowledge creation and compromise innovation.     

Closing remarks

M. B. Delapalme, Elf-Aquitaine, President de la Task Force 76', concluded that for industry to prepare the future rather than to have one thrust upon it, it was important to understand all the data, and detect the main currents before any solutions could be envisaged.
Naturally, in this conference, it was never expected to resolve our outstanding queries, and the principal trend (apart from the universally high quality of the speeches) was the widening of a dialogue with outside bodies.
The conference heard how IRI had invited company presidents to a meeting. Here ElRMA too has begun to develop contact with more 'external forces', economists, union leaders, consumers, members of governments. Sometimes our guests have shocked or surprised us, but that contact is vital. That the Director of the French National Institute of Consumers should declare his interest in establishing some sort of formal relationship with representatives of industrial research seems very desirable. From the germ of this idea may grow the basis of a future situation in which industry may no longer have to face unexpected attacks which in the end are destructive for all the parties involved.
It seems fundamental to know what the principal powers that be in our countries expect of industrial research—even if as members one may not agree with them. It is certainly necessary that we are informed of their views. In particular, M. d'Ornano expressed an idea which seemed particularly interesting—that the research manager can and must play a part as intermediary or interpreter of research to production and vice versa—two different worlds of misunderstanding. For the things which remain to be done, it seems vital to get the proceedings of this conference published and put before a wide audience—many presentations being clearly destined to become reference papers for the future.     

Corporate ownership and managerial short-termism: Results from a Finnish study of management perceptions

Increased media exposure to layoffs and corporate quarterly financial reporting have created arguable a common perception—especially favored by the media itself—that the companies have been forced to improve their financial performance from quarter to quarter. Academically, the relevant question is whether companies themselves feel that they are exposed to short-term pressure to perform even if it means that they have to compromise company's long-term future. This paper studies this issue using results from a survey conducted among the 500 largest companies in Finland. The results indicate that companies in general feel moderate short-term pressure, with reasonable dispersion across firms. There seems to be a link between the degree of pressure felt, and the firm's ownership structure, i.e. we find some support for the existence of potentially short-term versus long-term owners. We also find significant ownership related differences, in line with expectations, in how such short-term pressure is reflected in actual decision variables such as the investment criteria used.     

Strategic factor markets,scale free resources,and economic performance: The impact of product market rivalry

This paper analyzes how scale free resources, which can be acquired by multiple firms simultaneously and deployed against one another in product market competition, will be priced in strategic factor markets, and what the consequences are for the acquiring firms' performance. Based on a game‐theoretic model, it shows how the impact of strategic factor markets on economic profits is influenced by product market rivalry, preexisting competitive (dis)advantages, and the interaction of acquired resources with those preexisting asymmetries. New insights include the result that resource suppliers will aim at (and largely succeed in) setting resource prices so that the acquiring firms earn negative strategic factor market profits—sacrificing some of their preexisting market power rents—by acquiring resources that they know to be overpriced. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perspectives on roadmaps: how organizations talk about the future

Roadmaps, in the traditional sense, are concerned mostly with space and position. In the way that industrial and public research institutions use the term, though, roadmaps reveal the time dimension of technological progress. The many and increasing applications of roadmaps have generated confusion about what they are for and what they accomplish amid the many tools and techniques of managing technology. Roadmapping is itself a trend, while it seeks to exploit the trends underlying technology. The practice has side effects, biases, and behavioral consequences that are often not visible to practitioners, and until now, were unexamined by researchers. This study provides an organizational perspective on roadmapping as currently practiced, presents the experience of several organizations that have implemented it, and evaluates the results. Using a case‐based, exploratory method the author addresses several practical questions, such as: What are the effects of roadmapping? How are they measured? Is roadmapping always appropriate? How would an organization know if it was roadmapping well? What are the various kinds of roadmaps and how do they relate to each other? In addition, some more general lessons about organizational behavior emerge from the case data. Cases were selected from several large industrial firms participating in a research consortium exploring the modern challenges and tools of technology management. These firms granted extensive access to the research team and actively participated in the analysis, demonstrating a unique and productive model of research collaboration between academic researchers and business practitioners. Central to an understanding of roadmapping behavior is noticing the tension between its dual nature. Roadmaps are both forecasts of what is possible or likely to happen, as well as plans that articulate a course of action. They are, in a sense, personal to their authors. Roadmaps can be used to align organizations in times of predictable change, but have limited insight into disruptive change. The most influential roadmaps originate as responses to perceived threats, and link the technical storyline to organizational and personal concerns. For those who would implement the technique, the article suggests practical ways to use these and other findings and offers basic definitions and vital questions for future research.     

The Hegemonic Behaviorist Cycle

Values relating to technology and technology education, I will argue, can either be co-constructed or imposed. A teacher employing behaviourist methodologies in the classroom, for example, will inculcate within students, a prescribed set of values relating to technology. They can do this in many ways. In an industrial arts model of technology education, teachers will lead students towards an understanding of technology as a process of fabricating prescribed artifacts with a view to increasing their industry standard psychomotor skills. This, they will argue, will help students gain useful employment in that field of industry. At the other end of the continuum, but still set within the behaviourist paradigm, the teacher might insist that the genetic modification of food is necessary in order to create more efficient production systems in agriculture, or that the only truly sustainable way of maintaining an electricity supply to meet current demands is by nuclear power. In these models, the teacher as expert provides the correct solutions to the prescribed questions. I will argue that this model forms the basis of what I will call a “hegemonic behaviourist cycle”. By this I mean that inculcation into a behaviourist system will serve to shape the learners’ actions when setting into practice what has been learned. I will begin by considering the way values can be formed in a behaviourist setting. I will then explore how technology education set within a behaviouristic system serves to produce unthinking students. I will then go on to explore a learning paradigm in which the formation of values relating to technology is seen as a social process. I will present an argument, in line with current educational thought, that a need now exists to abandon current behaviourist pedagogies and move towards a more broad based learning environment. This, I will argue, is necessary for the development of more informed attitudes about the impact that new and emerging technologies can have on individuals, societies and the world. Values relating to technology will be seen, in this model, to be co-constructed rather than imposed.     

Asian Management Research: Frontiers and Challenges

It is an appropriate time to examine the current achievements and the potential of Asian management research in shaping the body of management knowledge. The papers in this Special Issue examine the theoretical development and conceptualization of Asian management research and identify promising areas for future research. The papers summarize key research trends in several management areas and provide a critical analysis of what has been achieved, what is lacking, and what can be done in future studies. They argue, collectively, that it is fruitful to address some Asian phenomenon and generate theory for global-relevant issues. It is also meaningful to use Asian-developed constructs to study local and global issues. However, there are urgent needs for the development and validation of new constructs, designing measures and innovative methodology for conducting empirical studies, and linking the Asian-based issues and concepts to current scholarly conversations.     

Process reengineering: A review of enablers

In an attempt to improve productivity, performance and overall competitiveness in both domestic and global markets, organisations have realised that there is a need to reform their business practices and become more customer focused. Consequently, these organisations have recognised the need for organisational change, but do not necessarily know how and what to change, to achieve improvements in productivity and performance. Process reengineering has been described as the elixir for achieving dramatic improvements in production time and cost. Process reengineering is not about fixing current processes, but rebuilding them, with the aim of process improvement. This paper will explain what is meant by process reengineering and suggests that before an organisation attempts to process reengineer, a thorough understanding of current practices, procedures and enablers of change are required. Typically, information technology is implemented as the key change enabler of process reengineering implemented as the key enabler without prior consideration to other enablers such as organisational, human resource and total quality management. This paper suggests that the use of information technology as an enabler is rarely sufficient to cause process change. The paper concludes by suggesting that a combination of information technology, organisational and human resource enablers and a total quality management based philosophy are requisite for the effective redesign of business processes.     

Mass or Only “Niche Customization”? Why We Should Interpret Configuration Toolkits as Learning Instruments

In order to configure individual products according to their own preferences, customers are required to know what they want. While most research simply assumes that consumers have sufficient preference insight to do so, a number of psychologically oriented scholars have recently voiced serious concerns about this assumption. They argue that decades of consumer behavior research have shown that most consumers in most product categories lack this knowledge. Not knowing what one wants means being unable to specify what one wants—and therefore, they conclude, the majority of customers are unable to use configuration toolkits in a meaningful way. In essence, this would mean that mass customization should rather be termed “niche customization” as it will be doomed to remain a concept for a very small minority of customers only. This pessimism stands in sharp contrast to the optimism of those who herald the new possibilities enabled by advances in communication and production technologies as the dawn of a new era in new product development and business in general. Which position is right? In order to answer this question, this research investigates the role of the configuration toolkit. Implicitly, the skeptic position assumes that the individual customers' knowledge (or absence of knowledge) of what they want is an exogenous and constant term that does not change during the interaction with the toolkit. However, learning theories suggest that the customers' trial‐and‐error interaction with the configuration toolkit and the feedback information they receive should increase their preference insight. If this was true and the effect size strong, it would mean that low a priori preference insight does not impede customers to derive value from mass customization. Three experiments show that configuration toolkits should be interpreted as learning instruments that allow consumers to understand their preferences more clearly. Even short trial‐and‐error self‐design processes with conventional toolkits bring about substantial and time‐stable enhancements of preference insight. The value of this knowledge is remarkable. In the product category of self‐designed watches, the 10‐minute design process resulted in additional preference insight worth 43.13 euros on average or +66%, measured by incentive‐compatible auctions. A moderator analysis in a representative sample shows that the learning effect is particularly strong among customers who initially exhibit low levels of preference insight. These findings entail three contributions. First, it becomes evident that the interaction with mass customization toolkits not only triggers affective reactions among customers but also has cognitive effects—a response category not investigated before. Second, it suggests that the pessimism regarding the mass appeal of these toolkits is not justified—mass customization has the potential to truly deserve its name. The prerequisite for this, and this normative conclusion is the final contribution, is that the toolkit should not be interpreted as a mere interface for conveying preexisting preferences to the producer. Rather, it should be treated as a learning instrument. Several suggestions are made for how firms employing this innovative business model could design their toolkits towards this end.     

Significant Issues for the Future of Product Innovation

In this issue, Merle Crawford and Milton Rosenau present their thoughts on some of the issues confronting product development professionals. Both reflect on the emergence of new products management as a profession—a field with its own requirements for success. Crawford wonders about the sustainability of our current use of teams for much of our work, the need for improved measurements, and the overall relationship between the management of new initiatives and the ongoing work of the organization. As new products work become more integrated with corporate operations, what new responsibilities will we face, beyond our current challenges? Rosenau looks squarely at the complex issues of rewards and compensation. How can we modify systems that have traditionally evaluated individual performance and adjust them to fit various cooperative work patterns necessary in new product development? He calls for formal study of these important issues. These essays continue a year-long series of contributions that the editor-in-chief solicited from members of the editorial board. Members were asked to reflect on changes and opportunities that they feel will influence our profession during the coming decade. Both of these short essays are designed to introduce new perspectives. It is not essential that you agree with the recommendations, but we hope that you are stimulated as you reflect on the issues that are raised.     

Value judgment and social action in technology studies

The paper raises the question: what should educators now be doing to promote informed judgment and responsible action in advanced technological society? After providing a narrative of the development of the context for this question, the paper argues that educators should now be allocating less time and attention to general education and more to projects at specifically targeted learning sites such as environmental and community service programs.     

电力期货市场对发电企业的影响探讨

随着我国电力市场的推进和经营形式的变化,电力生产出现了新的问题。电力期货市场作为电力市场发展的一种新模式,成为解决煤电矛盾困局的市场化工具,也为电力行业改进生产方式提出了新的启示。对发电企业如何利用期货市场的套利保值机理和价格发现机制以改变发电企业传统的经营方式进行了介绍,并结合我国华东区域电力市场发电权交易的经验对电力期货市场的设计进行了探讨。     

Schedule Emphasis of New Product Development Personnel

The emphasis personnel place on the development schedule is one factor in determining how quickly a new product will reach the market. Normally, each team member will stress different development program aspects in ways that depend on their own background, functional specialty and sense of what their management desires. In this article, Milton Rosenau describes a means to measure the emphasis an individual places on schedule and other program aspects. The results of such a measure can then be used to improve team congruity.     

Understanding users' performance evaluation of IT solutions

Traditionally, buying center research in business marketing has long focused on the role of various buying center members, including users, in influencing purchasing decisions. Recent studies have also established the important role users play in successfully implementing information technology (IT) initiatives of buying organizations and its influence on future relationships with sellers. Consequently, in order to ensure future business, marketers need users to evaluate their solutions favorably. This study attempts to understand the factors influencing user evaluation of performance of sellers' IT solutions. Based on an inter-disciplinary approach, a model of antecedent factors to explain user evaluation of suppliers IT solutions is proposed and tested. Results gleaned from a survey of 361 users of Internet-based technology in an automotive supply chain indicate that user attitudes toward technology, satisfaction with the new technology, users' overall understanding of supply chain management principles, and job-related consequences influence user evaluation of IT solutions.     

Assessment of mutually beneficial technology: East-West perspective

Many firms in the transitionary economies of Central and Eastern Europe are searching for Western partners to assist them with technological development. They are particularly interested in joint ventures, strategic alliances, and management contracts. They feel that rapid infusion of new technology is the fastest way to economic recovery.
The problem is that they do not understand how their level of technology compares to the technology level in Western economies. A significant technology gap exists. This problem is further complicated because managers from transitionary economies do not have appropriate technology assessment processes to assess internal as well as external technologies. This paper reviews this problem and offers some insights on it.     

New Product Portfolio Management: Practices and Performance

Effective portfolio management is vital to successful product innovation. Portfolio management is about making strategic choices—which markets, products, and technologies our business will invest in. It is about resource allocation—how you will spend your scarce engineering, R&D, and marketing resources. It focuses on project selection—on which new product or development projects you choose from the many opportunities you face. And it deals with balance—having the right balance between numbers of projects you do and the resources or capabilities you have available. In this article, the authors reveal the findings of their extensive study of portfolio management in industry. This study, the first of its kind, reports the portfolio management practices and performance of 205 U.S. companies. Its overall objective was to gain insights into what portfolio methods companies use, whether they are satisfied with them, the performance results they achieve with the different approaches, and suggestions for others who are considering implementing portfolio management. The research first assesses management's satisfaction with portfolio methods they employ and notes that some firms face major problems in portfolio management. Next, businesses are grouped or clustered into four groups according to management's view of portfolio management: Cowboys, Crossroads, Duds, and Benchmark businesses. The research first assesses management's satisfaction with portfolio methods they employ and notes that some firms face major problems in portfolio management. Next, businesses are grouped or clustered into four groups according to management's view of portfolio management: Cowboys, Crossroads, Duds, and Benchmark businesses. Various performance metrics are used to gauge the performance of the business's portfolio. The results reveal major differences between the best and the worst. Benchmark businesses are the top performers. Their new product portfolios consistently score the best in terms of performance—high-value projects, aligned with the business's strategy, the right balance of projects, and the right number of projects. The authors take a closer look at these benchmark businesses to determine what distinguishes their projects from the rest. Benchmark businesses employ a much more formal, explicit method to managing their portfolio of projects. They rely on clear, well-defined portfolio procedures, they consistently apply their portfolio method to all projects, and management buys into the approach. The relative popularity of various portfolio methods—from financial methods to strategic approaches, bubble diagrams, and scoring approaches—are investigated. Not surprisingly, financial approaches are the most popular and dominate the portfolio decision. But what is surprising is the dubious results achieved via financial approaches. Again, benchmark businesses stand out from the rest: they place less emphasis on financial approaches and more on strategic methods, and they tend to use multiple methods more so than the rest. Strategic methods, along with scoring approaches, yield the best portfolios; financial methods yield poorer portfolio results. The authors provide a number of recommendations and suggestions for anyone setting out to implement portfolio management in their business.     

Workplace Industrial Relations 25 Years after Donovan: An Employer View

Some common management themes of the 1980s can be traced to Donovan and are revealed in practice by the 1990 Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. The paper considers the relevance of factors not endorsed by Donovan and concludes that, while in terms of industrial action in manufacturing — the focus of concern in the mid-1960s — there is evidence that more order and responsibility has been injected into industrial relations at plant level, we cannot yet maintain that inflationary dangers have been overcome. Collective bargaining is, however, now revealed as affecting only a minority in the private sector, and public services behaviour looks increasingly out of step. The paper suggests that future surveys may therefore need to be recast to capture changing patterns of employer – employee relationships and their links to economic success.     

Data analytic trends and training in strategic management

Data analysis is a key element of the research process. Accordingly, appropriate doctoral training in data analysis is vital to the strategic management field's future. We used a two‐study design to evaluate quantitative data analysis trends and doctoral training. An analysis of Strategic Management Journal articles from 1980 to 2001 reveals that, contrary to some predictions, the use of general linear model techniques such as regression has increased over time. However, the use of more specialized techniques, including those suitable for examining longitudinal data, discrete events, and causal structure, has also grown substantially. A survey of recent doctoral graduates shows that, although skilled with general linear models, many are ill prepared to use specialized techniques. Based on our findings, we offer suggestions aimed at bridging gaps between what doctoral students (and other researchers) know and what they need to know about data analysis. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analysis of decision processes

This paper outlines three ways of looking at decision processes, and relates them to problems of research management. A classification of decisions is suggested, based on three dimensions of complexity. On each dimension, innovative decisions are normally more complex than operating decisions, but since the latter are more common, there is a danger that the former will be inadequately treated, as shown in an example. These dangers may be mitigated, first, by regarding complex decision-making as an explicitly cyclical process, and, second, by recognizing the significance of reference standards. Four types of reference standard—historical, external, planning, and imaginative—are noted, and brief consideration is given to their origins and to their influence on the perception not only of problems but also of solutions. It is argued that the range and quality of the reference standards used are likely to be significant factors in the success of research management.     

Personal computer networks

In this discussion of the growth of personal computer use in the USA, and the increasing interest in linking these computers into networks, the author describes the expansion of personal computing in the USA since 1975, and cites a number of estimates, surveys, and market research studies concerning projected growth. The activities of the Personal Computer Network (PCNET) are discussed, from its founding in May 1977 to initial experimental operation in early 1978. A number of options for network link media are dealt with, including the dial telephone system and various radio link designs. These various network architectures lead to several policy issues: How will the standards for telephone system use interact with increasing use of personal computer-based telecommunications? How will the cost of telephone service (particularly off-peak hour rates) influence the growth and use of personal computer networks? Could, and should, the telephone carriers and/or the value-added carriers offer a packet-switched service to residential subscribers? What current restrictions are faced by personal computer users in networking via CB and amateur radio? Bandwidth for digital block radio can materially improve the cost-effectiveness of personal computer network activity — what frequencies would be suitable, and what usage restrictions would be appropriate? What are the societal consequences of personal computer networks?