Arto Rajala

How does adaptability drive firm innovativeness

Abstract In recent years, increasing environmental dynamism and the adaptability of the firm have attracted new academic interest in how manufacturing firms adapt to their environments and create superior business performance. However, the discussion has been somewhat hampered by the lack of research incorporating the context, content, and outcome perspectives of adaptability. In this article, we will develop a conceptual framework of the adaptability construct and explore relationships between dimensions of adaptability and innovativeness. The results of our empirical study indicate that several components of adaptability are significantly different between low- and high-performing firms, as measured by their innovativeness. The type of business logic and the nature of environmental dynamism strongly influence the adaptability–innovativeness relationship among the firms examined. In view of the positive and sustainable adaptability–innovativeness linkages, managers should simultaneously address the technology, market, and organization-related issues in line with the dominant contextual factors involved.

Organizing Marketing in Industrial High-Tech Firms: The Role of Internal Marketing Relationships

Abstract The need for more flexible and often temporary types of organizational structures in high-technology companies has resulted in an increasing use of teams and project groups employing special know-how and expertise in carrying out marketing activities. These form partly planned and partly informal intra-corporation networks. We contend that the handling of these intra-organizational relationships between the different marketing units in industrial high-tech companies is a key prerequisite for the successful management of their customer relationships. This argument is supported by the findings of a multiple-case study, investigating four major industrial process automation producers (ABB, Honeywell, Measurex, Valmet Automation). The main findings suggest the dismantling of traditional marketing departments in favor of a relatively large collection of marketing-related units and structures. The development of these internal marketing units, the establishment of good communications between them, and the coordination of their activities presented major challenges for the case companies.

Innovation Types and Network Relationships

We examine network relationships, particularly the type and strength of these relationships and how firms use them in order to commercialize different types of innovations. We conduct an in–depth case study of four small firms to provide insight on how and why a portfolio of network relationships (e.g., suppliers, distributors, customers, and research institutes) helps small new innovative firms to gain resources. We develop a framework of four innovation types and expand on how successful commercialization for each innovation type requires certain types and strength of relationships. Both types (systemic and autonomous) of radical innovations require strong collaborative ties with customers, whereas incremental innovations are commercialized through different types of downstream networks.

Knowledge-intensive service activities in software business

In this study we focus on knowledge-intensive services used by small and medium-sized companies in the software industry. Our study explores the sources, use and perceived importance of different types of knowledge-intensive services in software business. In addition to revealing the use of commercial privately or publicly produced knowledge-intensive business services, the results of this study indicate the remarkable proportion and strategic role of non-commercial knowledge-intensive service activities that are co-produced in network partnerships. These activities are accomplished in networks in order to mutually generate or transfer knowledge between companies, customers, subcontractors or authorities of the industry, and the knowledge itself is not an object of trade.

Assessing innovativeness through organisational adaptability: a contingency approach

Characteristics of the post-industrial era include increasing knowledge and competence, competitive and technological dynamics, and growing environmental complexity. A firm can handle market- and technology- driven uncertainties if its repertoire of knowledge and competencies is expanded continuously, and its ability to exploit such a repertoire is correspondingly improved. Hence, we examine in this study how competence- based adaptability affects the level of innovativeness, and how internal and external strategic postures influence this interplay. Our findings provide strong empirical evidence for a positive association between adaptability and innovativeness. This interplay is significantly influenced by the underlying mechanism of a firms dominant business logic and environmental uncertainty. Thus, companies are able to improve success in new product development and commercialisation, by enhancing their ability to adapt to constantly changing environmental conditions, in line with the dominant business logic utilised.

Sharpening the edge of market driven intangibles and innovations

A review of the extant literature concludes that market-driven intangibles and innovations are increasingly considered to be the most critical firm-specific resources, but also finds a lack of elaboration of which types of these resources are most important. In this paper, we incorporate these observations into a conceptual model and link it to highly developed institutional settings for the model evaluation. From the point of view of firm revenue management, we can anticipate that performance advantages created through deployment of intellectual and relational capital in marketing and innovation are more likely to be superior. In essence, they constitute the integration of organisational intangibles both in cognitive and behavioural level to create an idiosyncratic combination for each firm. Our research findings show feasible paths for sharpening the edge of market-driven intangibles and innovations. We discuss the key results for research and practice.