Andrew Kach

Boundary Conditions: What They are, How to Explore Them, Why We Need Them, and When to Consider Them

Boundary conditions (BC) have long been discussed as an important element in theory development, referring to the “Who, Where, When�? aspects of a theory. However, it still remains somewhat vague as to what exactly BC are, how they can or even should be explored, and why their understanding matters. This research tackles these important questions by means of an in-depth theoretical-methodological analysis. The study contributes fourfold to organizational research methods: First, it develops a more accurate and explicit understanding of BC. Second, it widens the understanding of how BC can be explored by suggesting and juxtaposing new tools and approaches. It also illustrates BC-exploring processes, drawing on two empirical case examples. Third, it analyzes the reasons for exploring BC, concluding that BC exploration fosters theory development, strengthens research validity, and mitigates the research-practice gap. Fourth, it synthesizes the analyses into 12 tentative suggestions for how scholars should subsequently approach the issues surrounding BC. The authors hope that the study contributes to consensus shifting with respect to BC and draws more attention to BC.

Analyzing the Successful Development of a High‐Novelty Innovation Project Under a Time‐Pressured Schedule

Research has identified numerous determinants leading to the success of new product development (NPD) projects. However, which particular determinants carry more importance when developing high‐novelty projects under tight time constraints have yet to be clarified. We study the development of ECJ‐400 of Eclipse Aircraft Company, a highly innovative new jet airplane that was designed and built in a very aggressive 229‐day timetable. Through an in‐depth case analysis using interviews with members of the four companies involved in the design, manufacturing, and flight testing of the airplane, we enquire about the underlying factors that led to the successful creation of this product. Propositions were formulated and then depicted respectively through the development of a casual network diagram. Our study contributes to the NPD speed literature by highlighting the particular interrelationships between determinants that are influential toward highly novel time‐pressured NPD projects.

The influence of different knowledge workers on innovation strategy and product development performance in small and medium-sized enterprises

Despite significant interest on the topic of knowledge workers, the understanding of how they influence certain aspects of firm innovativeness remains limited. In particular, while different types of knowledge workers exist, their particular synergistic effects on new and improved product development within smaller firms has received less attention. Drawing on the knowledge-based view (KBV), we posit that innovation strategy plays an instrumental role in linking the effects of knowledge workers, thereby leading to greater product development outcomes from different types of knowledge workers. Moreover, some suggest that beyond a certain point, there is a diminishing return to increasing the proportion of knowledge workers in an organisation; however, the basis of this finding is within larger firms. This study investigates whether high-level (e.g. engineers and scientists) and low-level (e.g. technicians and machine operators) knowledge workers exert varying effects on performance in terms of new and improved product development. Data from 205 small and medium-sized high-tech manufacturing firms provide support that distinguishing among types of knowledge workers is important given that they impact new and improved product development differently. Furthermore, innovation strategy plays a synergistic role, positively mediating the effects of different types of knowledge workers on innovation outcomes.

Towards a deeper understanding of managerial green investment patterns – a USA–Germany comparison

Green investments are crucial mechanisms for translating green operation strategies into managerial action. We examine the impact of external pressures on green investment patterns in terms of their scope, type and time horizon across 251 German and US managers. A scenario-based experiment was conducted using a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design in which managers were assigned to high and low consumer, community, and resource treatment groups before being asked to make green investment decisions. Our hypotheses are developed based on resource advantage theory and tested in a number of regression models. The results demonstrate that German and US managers respond differently to external pressures in their green investment decisions. Regarding the scope of green investments, German and US managers invest differently if end consumer pressure increases and partially differently if resource scarcity increases, but they act in a similar way if community pressure increases. Moreover, we detected specific variations in the type and time horizon of green investments across US and German managers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for green operations management research and for firms operating in multinational settings are explained.

An analytical model for system-wide and tier-specific assessment of resilience to supply chain risks

Purpose Based on the emerging view of supply chains as complex adaptive systems, this paper aims to build and test an analytical model for resilience assessment surrounding supply chain risks at the level of the supply chain system and its individual tiers. Design/methodology/approach To address the purpose of this study, a multimethod research approach is adopted as follows: first, data envelopment analysis (DEA) modelling and fuzzy set theory are used to build a fuzzy network DEA model to assess risk resilience of the overall supply chains and their individual tiers; next, the proposed model is tested using a survey of 150 middle- and top-level managers representing nine industry sectors in Iran. Findings The survey results show a substantial variation in resilience ratings between the overall supply chains characterizing nine industry sectors in Iran and their individual tiers (upstream, downstream and organizational processes). The findings indicate that the system-wide characteristic of resilience of the overall supply chain is not necessarily indicative of the resilience of its individual tiers. Practical implications High efficiency scores of a number of tiers forming a supply chain are shown to have only a limited effect on the overall efficiency score of the resulting supply chain. Overall, our research findings confirm the necessity of adopting both the system-wide and tier-specific approach by analysts and decision makers when assessing supply chain resilience. Integrated as part of risk response and mitigation process, the information obtained through such analytical approach ensures timely identification and mitigation of major sources of risk in the supply chains. Originality/value Supply chain resilience assessment models rarely consider resilience to risks at the level of individual supply chain tiers, focusing instead on the system-wide characteristics of supply chain resilience. The proposed analytical model allows for the assessment of supply chain resilience among individual tiers for a wide range of supply chain risks categorized as upstream, downstream, organizational, network and external.

Maneuvering through Hostile Environments: How Firms Leverage Product and Process Innovativeness

Is focusing on innovativeness the appropriate organizational response in hostile environments? This study addresses four distinct forms of hostile environments: market decline, restrictiveness, competition, and resource scarcity. The research draws on contingency theory to explain how these forms of hostility affect product innovativeness, process innovativeness, and firm performance. While the extant literature has investigated the effects of hostile environments on performance, little has been done to distinguish between different forms of hostility and, in turn, their potential effect on product and process innovativeness. We argue that investments in product and process innovativeness are either fostered or hindered, contingent on the form of hostile pressures from the external operating environment. These firm responses should in turn suppress the negative effects of hostility on performance. A survey using newly developed measurement scales for hostile environments was used to collect data from 148 small and medium-sized manufacturing plants. The results provide evidence that generally supports our hypotheses. More specifically, the direct effects of the four forms of hostile environments impact product and process innovativeness differently. Likewise, the suppression and consistent mediation effects of product and process innovativeness differ depending upon the type of hostile environment, suggesting that manufacturers consider applying these capabilities contingent upon the type of hostile climate they face. Therefore, to understand how firms leverage product and process innovativeness, hostile environments are best differentiated into categories rather than being aggregated. [web URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/deci.12196/full]

Investigating the impact of behavioral factors on supply network efficiency: insights from banking’s corporate bond networks

This paper highlights the role of behavioral factors for efficiency measurement in supply networks. To this aim, behavioral issues are investigated among interrelations between decision makers involved in corporate bond service networks. The corporate bond network was considered in three consecutive stages, where each stage represents the relations between two members of the network: issuer–underwriter, underwriter–bank, and bank–investor. Adopting a multi-method approach, we collected behavioral data by conducting semi-structured interviews and applying the critical incident technique. Financial and behavioral data, collected from each stage in 20 corporate bond networks, were analyzed using fuzzy network data envelopment analysis to obtain overall and stage-wise efficiency scores for each network. Sensitivity analyzes of the findings revealed inefficiencies in the relations between underwriters–issuers, banks–underwriters, and banks–investors stemming from certain behavioral factors. The results show that incorporating behavioral factors provides a better means of efficiency measurement in supply networks.

Sustainability and the False Sense of Legitimacy: Paradoxical Risks in Global Supply Chains

Supply chain scholars have begun to recognize the institutional influences on supply chains, yet scarce attention has been directed towards the fact that global supply chains often comprise different institutions. This omission represents a severe shortcoming because the understanding of what constitutes legitimate behavior may vary substantially between contexts. This conceptual study employs the institutional distance concept to the case of supply chain sustainability risks. It focuses initially on paradoxical situations in which both the buyer and the supplier fully comply with stakeholder expectations within their own legitimacy contexts, yet the buyer’s stakeholders still withdraw legitimacy from and harm the buyer. The study analyzes the causal microfoundations of how and why such paradoxical risks manifest, drawing on stakeholder theory and institutional theory. The analysis shows that accounting for the differing legitimacy contexts is necessary for explaining these risks, thereby substantiating our initial claim that institutional distance matters to global supply chains. The study yields important implications for corporate practice in that it highlights an inherent trade-off in many global supply chains.