How to approach business model innovation: the role of opportunities in times of (no) exogenous change

Firms need to show dynamic adaptability and innovate their business models to achieve survival and growth, in particular when they are exposed to high levels of exogenous change. However, business model innovation also takes place in the absence of exogenous change. We know relatively little about firms’ approaches to opportunities for business model innovation in both of these environmental settings. The objective of this study is to understand how firms exposed to various environmental conditions explore and exploit business model innovation opportunities. In a qualitative multiple case analysis, the study compares the approaches to business model innovation used by four firms exposed to high levels of exogenous change with those of four firms operating in the absence of exogenous change. The findings are contrasted with entrepreneurial opportunity discovery and creation theories. The results reveal that firms exposed to high levels of exogenous change focus on discovering objective opportunities, whereas firms operating in the absence of exogenous change concentrate on creating opportunities for business model innovation. However, this study revealed that when the firms further explore and exploit these opportunities, they tend to combine the behaviours that the two opportunity perspectives suggest. This study contributes to the literature on business model innovation by emphasising the relationship between environmental context and approach to business model innovation and by reinforcing the link with entrepreneurship theory.     

Predicting Household Poverty: A Methodological Note with a Kenyan Example

Household surveys provide data that is used for identifying and measuring the poverty status of households and individuals. However, carrying out such surveys is expensive, especially in poor developing countries. Thus it is important to make maximum use of the available survey data in developing countries, especially in sub‐Saharan Africa, where such data are expensive to collect and analyse. This paper develops a simple method for using poverty indices derived from survey data for a given year, to predict poverty rates for subsequent periods without having to conduct a new household survey. We illustrate the workings of the method with data from Kenyan household surveys for 1994 and 1997.     

Facilitating Global Organizational Learning in Product Development at Whirlpool Corporation

The challenges of leveraging learning about product development in a global company are complex. Whirlpool Corporation is addressing these challenges, using a multidimensional strategy that couples work in advanced products and product development with organization development and training. Deborah Durate and Nancy Snyder describe how Whirlpool has implemented training, best practices conferences, and programs focused on enhancing the performance of product development teams to facilitate learning after product development efforts and to leverage that learning on a global basis. Programs and processes are described, and lessons learned as well as guidelines for development are offered.     

Self-Efficacy Toward Service, Civic Participation and the Business Student: Scale Development and Validation

This paper presents the development andvalidation of new measurement tools to exploreself-efficacy toward service and toward civicparticipation. We developed and administereda survey to 851 students in an AACSB-accreditedcollege of business at a comprehensive publicuniversity located in the Midwest. Traditionalscale development methodologies plusconfirmatory factor analysis and simultaneousfactor analysis in several populations wereused to analyze both a primary sample and aholdback sample. Results strongly support thevalidity and reliability of the surveyinstrument. Future use for the instrumentincludes verification of the effectiveness ofpedagogies designed to increase self-efficacytoward service and motivation for civicparticipation in business students.     

Regulating Banks through Market Discipline: A Survey of the Issues

Abstract.  The interest in the application of market discipline to regulate the financial industry has boomed recently due to the proposed New Capital Accord. This paper reviews the potential role market discipline can play in financial regulation. We start with a discussion of the rationale for financial regulation and with a brief history of the current regulatory mechanisms. Next, a definition of market discipline as a regulatory mechanism is advanced. We evaluate the disciplining power various market participants have. Finally, we argue that more external risk management disclosure is a condition sine qua non in order to enable market discipline as a regulatory mechanism. In this respect, the Basle Committee has taken the right approach.     

HOUSEHOLD AND ENTERPRISE SAVING AND CAPITAL FORMATION IN THE UNITED STATES: A MARKET TRANSACTIONS VIEW

Contrary to conventional macro theory, it is not the consumption function in terms of either the permanent income or the life-cycle theory of saving that has furnished the saving for enterprise capital formation in the United States. Household sector accounts indicate that household gross saving, correctly measured, did not exceed household gross capital formation in the United States over the period since 1947. Furthermore, historical data on enterprise saving and capital formation in the United States, and cross-section tax return data of U.S. corporations indicate that the gross saving for many enterprise sectors has been equal to or greater than their gross capital formation. There are exceptions, however: these same sources indicate that public utilities have borrowed substantially to finance their capital formation. Finally, it is argued that employer pension and insurance reserves held by financial institutions for future benefit payments represent retained income of a nature similar to undistributed profits, and that these constitute a source of saving in the economy.     

Taking the “Q” Out of Research: Teaching Research Methodology Courses Without the Divide Between Quantitative and Qualitative Paradigms

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that the debate between quantitative and qualitative is divisive and, hence, counterproductive for advancing the social and behavioral science field. We advocate that all graduate students learn to utilize and to appreciate both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. As such, students will develop into pragmatist researchers who are able to utilize both quantitative and qualitative techniques when conducting research. We contend that the best way to accomplish this is by eliminating quantitative research methodology and qualitative research methodology courses from curricula and replacing these with research methodology courses at different levels that simultaneously teach both quantitative and qualitative techniques within a mixed methodological framework.An earlier version of this article received the 2003 Southwest Educational Research Association (SERA) Outstanding Paper Award.