A two-way relationship between multi-level technological change and organisational characteristics-cases involving the development of heavy hybrid buses

This paper analyses inter- and intra-organisational interaction in cases of product development, which involves significantly new technologies that affect core product sub-systems. The analysis shows that in such cases, there is a need to collaborate with suppliers to learn about the new technology. Moreover, provided that the firm's existing technology is still relevant, there is a need to integrate the new technology with existing technologies. Therefore, close supplier interaction has to be associated with close intra-organisational interaction. However, even a case where there is a limited need to integrate the new technology with existing technologies, there is a need to justify the new technology internally and negotiate the process of adopting it within the organisation. The paper thus demonstrates a two-way relationship between organisational characteristics and multi-level technological change. On the one hand, different types of technological changes demand different kinds of R&D organisations and supplier relationships. On the other hand, decisions to implement technological changes are influenced by existing organisational structures and product development philosophies.     

Odd Couple: Making Sense of the Curious Concept of Knowledge Management

The idea of knowledge management draws currently much attention, both among practitioners and scholars. Advocates of the term argue that knowledge management points to a new set of phenomena and practices for managers to learn and master. In particular knowledge management focuses on the creation and distribution of knowledge in organizations through technological novelties such as the internet, intranets, and e-mail, although there are also streams concentrating on social relations and interactions. This paper examines several possible conceptualizations of the idea of knowledge management. It is argued that knowledge is an ambiguous, unspecific and dynamic phenomenon, intrinsically related to meaning, understanding and process, and therefore difficult to manage. There is thus a contradiction between knowledge and management. Drawing from a literature review and a case study, it is suggested that knowledge management is as likely, if not more so, to operate as a practice of managing people or information than as a practice attuned towards facilitating knowledge creation.     

Talent or Not? Employee Reactions to Talent Identification

In this article, we examine the effect of talent identification on employee attitudes. Building on social exchange theory, we analyze the association between employees' perceptions about whether or not they have been formally identified as “talent” and the following attitudinal outcomes: commitment to increasing performance demands, building skills, and supporting strategic priorities; identification with the unit and the multinational enterprise; and turnover intentions. Our analyses of 769 managers and professionals in nine Nordic multinational corporations reveal a number of differences between employees who perceive that they have been identified as “talent” and those who either perceive that they have not been identified or do not know whether they have been identified. We found only limited differences between the two latter categories.     

Economic evaluation of BST-CarGel as an adjunct to microfracture vs microfracture alone in knee cartilage surgery

Objectives:

Knee cartilage damage is a common cause of referral for orthopedic surgery. Treatment aims to reduce pain and symptoms by repairing cartilage. Microfracture, the current standard of care, yields good short-term clinical outcomes; however, treatment might fail after 2–3 years. A Chitosan-Beta glycerolphosphate-based medical device (BST-CarGel) is used as an adjunct to microfracture and demonstrates improvements in quantity and quality of repaired tissue, potentially reducing the risk of treatment failure. This study aimed to establish the economic value of BST-CarGel vs microfracture alone in knee cartilage repair from the societal perspective, using Germany as the reference market.

Methods:

A decision tree with a 20-year time-horizon was constructed, in which undesirable clinical events were inferred following initial surgery. These events consisted of pain management, surgery, and total knee replacement. Clinical outcomes were taken from the pivotal clinical trial, supplemented by other literature. Data and assumptions were validated by a Delphi panel. All relevant resource use and costs for procedures and events were considered.

Results:

In a group of patients with all lesion sizes, the model inferred that BST-CarGel yields a positive return on investment at year 4 (with 20-year cumulative cost savings of €6448). Reducing the incremental risk of treatment failure gap between the device and microfracture by 25–50% does not alter this conclusion. Cost savings are greatest for patients with large lesions; results for patients with small lesions are more modest.

Limitations:

Clinical evidence for microfracture and other interventions varies in quality. Comparative long-term data are lacking. The comparison is limited to microfracture and looks only at costs without considering quality-of-life.

Conclusion:

BST-CarGel potentially represents a cost-saving alternative for patients with knee cartilage injury by reducing the risk of clinical events through regeneration of chondral tissue with hyaline characteristics. Since the burden of this condition is high, both to the patient and society, an effective and economically viable alternative is of importance.     

Technology readiness and usage: a global-identity perspective

The past several decades have witnessed the rapid globalization of consumption markets and widespread diffusion of information and communication technologies. However, the use of technology by consumers is not a foregone conclusion. We investigate the role of global self-identity on the orientation toward technology readiness and usage. Relying on a social-identity model of motivation as our theoretical framework, we propose a model which incorporates global self-identity (i.e., cosmopolitanism/parochialism and global/local identification) and self-regulation (i.e., promotion and prevention focus) in predicting technology readiness and usage in a self-service technology context. The proposed model is tested in two different cultures, the U.S. and China, and is contrasted with two theoretically-competing models as well. Results provide support for the hypothesized model, and a number of limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Models in action: how management models are interpreted in new product development

This paper studies the use of product development management models. Through an interpretive research approach based on in-depth interviews with 22 middle managers in two product development organizations, five ways of conceiving projects, project management and the role of models are identified – administrative, organizing, sense giving, team building and engineering – all representing different perspectives on – and ways of using models. The findings question essentialist views of models, common in the literature, as either normative guides for action or symbolic tools decoupled from action. Instead, the study indicates a large variety in the use of models mediated by the user's conception of the situation and the model. The study highlights the communicative role of models as boundary objects, enabling coordination of and communication about different conceptions of the development task. Rather than contributing to behavioral standardization (an implicit assumption that underlies most formal models), this study suggests that models support cognitive standardization by providing a common set of concepts and a framework that may be drawn upon in making sense of complex product development projects.     

Identity Regulation as Organizational Control: Producing the Appropriate Individual

This paper takes the regulation of identity as a focus for examining organizational control. It considers how employees are enjoined to develop self-images and work orientations that are deemed congruent with managerially defined objectives. This focus on identity extends and deepens themes developed within other analyses of normative control. Empirical materials are deployed to illustrate how managerial intervention operates, more or less intentionally and in/effectively, to influence employees' self-constructions in terms of coherence, distinctiveness and commitment. The processual nature of such control is emphasized, arguing that it exists in tension with other intra and extra-organizational claims upon employees' sense of identity in a way that can open a space for forms of micro-emancipation.