Alan B. Eisner

Formation conditions, innovation, and learning in R&D consortia

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on formation motivations and processes of R&D consortia to appreciate their differential innovative and learning capabilities.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents its argument in two separate steps. First, a two‐by‐two framework, comprising four consortium types, is developed based on two formation motivations (i.e. risk sharing and networking) and two formation processes (i.e. emergent and engineered). Four case vignettes are used to demonstrate the practical relevance of the two‐by‐two consortium typology framework. Second, the innovative and learning capabilities of each of these consortia are explored and eight propositions are advanced.Findings – The paper introduces four types of consortia: community builders, gamblers, visible hands, and opportunists. It is argued that visible hands generate greater innovation than community builders and opportunists, and community builders and opportunists generate greater innovation than gamblers. It is also argued t...

Web-Based Periodicals as an Emerging Cultural Form: Incumbent and Newcomer Producers in the Early Stages of Industry Revolution

This research is an investigation of Web-based periodicals, an emerging cultural form that presents magazine content in an electronic medium. Specifically, it compares incumbent producers of Web-based complements to paper publications with newcomer producers of independent Web-based documents. Drawing on evolutionary perspectives from organizational theory, hypotheses are developed predicting differences between incumbent and newcomer producers of an emerging cultural form. Hypothesis tests on a random sample of 114 Web-based periodicals, combined with a rigorous qualitative analysis, show that incumbent producers have more characteristics that suggest longevity than newcomers, such as symbolic ties to other organizations that add credibility, advertising solicitations that attract environmental support, and clear target audiences that confer market viability. Newcomer producers are technologically more sophisticated, but the new media applications that distinguish them are impractical for mainstream use.

Ann Taylor: Survival in Specialty Retail

Ann Taylor was founded in 1954, and its classic black dress and womans power suit were staples for years. In 1995 Ann Taylor LOFT was launched to appeal to a more casual, costconscious consumer. Under Kay Krills leadership, the division began to outperform the original flagship. When Krill was promoted to President/CEO of Ann Taylor Stores Corporation in 2005, she was challenged with rebuilding the Ann Taylor brand - (i.e., meeting the “wardrobing needs of the updated classic consumer”) while maintaining the image and market share of LOFT. By mid-2008, an additional problem appeared: the macroeconomic climate was posing considerable uncertainty, especially for retail businesses. Krill was firmly committed to long-term growth. However, given the 2008 situation, what could she do to unleash what she believed was the firms “significant untapped potential”?

Reader's Digest: Inform, Enrich, Entertain, and Inspire

After decades of successful expansion, The Readers Digest Associations products were mature. With an average readership age for the flagship Readers Digest magazine of 50.3 in 2004, efforts to develop new products had so far failed to entice a significant number of younger customers. Following a financial downturn in 1996, positive financial results remained illusive. Several major changes instituted by Thomas O. Ryder, CEO since 1998, including acquisitions, re-capitalization, restructuring and systematic re-engineering of the corporate culture, had proven mildly successful, but RDA, as well as the entire publishing industry, faced a persistent decline in profitability. Could RDA fulfill its stated mission to create “products that inform, enrich, entertain and inspire people of all ages and cultures around the world”, and could it do this by continuing to rely on the 80-year old Readers Digest magazine?