Claudio De Mattos

Enhancing Value Stream Agility:: The UK Speciality Chemical Industry

As part of a shift in chemical production occurring across the globe, the UK chemicals industry is increasingly moving from commodity to speciality production. In the UK the industrys batch production methods are little changed from previous decades and the speciality chemicals industry faces mounting challenges that argue for an increase in agility throughout the industry value stream. Individual companies and managers have responded in a variety of ways to these challenges. The Britest research project is a concerted industry response that seeks to improve the three key value streams of the industry by introducing new philosophies and methods into plant and process design. This article outlines the Britest approach to introducing agile manufacturing concepts in the speciality chemicals industry and then extends the approach to a more holistic focus on supply networks rather than concentrating on individual production units.

The Impact of R&D-Specific Factors on the Attractiveness of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises as Partners Vis-À-Vis Alliance Formation in Large Emerging Economies

This study examines the impact of research and development (R&D)-specific factors in determining the likelihood of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from developed countries to be attractive partners vis-a-vis forming alliances with SMEs from large emerging economies (LEEs). This study is founded on the knowledge-accessing theory of alliance formation, which emphasises the higher efficiency gains of knowledge application as opposed to knowledge generation. We extend this theory to SMEs on the basis that smaller firms, because of their resources constraints and drive to survive, are likely to use alliances to access external knowledge bases leading to new product development (NPD) opportunities because of the low feasibility of acquiring knowledge. As a mix of complex knowledge is necessary to develop most modern products and services, SMEs are also likely to adopt a more flexible operational approach and to accept compromises to forge knowledge-accessing alliances. We illustrate this theoretical development using primary data collected from British and German biotechnology SMEs, declaring the intention prospectively to form alliances with their counterparts in Brazil. Binary logistic regression was used to identify the factors influencing the likelihood of a firm as an attractive alliance partner. Our results indicate that R&D-specific factors influence the likelihood of firms to be attractive alliance partners. In particular, firms showing an in-house innovation history focused on one or few products are more likely to be attractive alliance partners with LEE firms than those that do not. Another R&D-specific predictor that enhances the chances of alliance partner attractiveness with LEE firms is the firms focused searching and identifying capability relative to technology or equipment that demonstrates good prospects to improve the firms line of products. A third predictor refers to the firms awareness regarding non-cost obstacles for its own technological development. Implications for policy makers and practitioners are also discussed.

The Impact of R&D-Specific Factors on the Attractiveness of SMEs as Partners vis--vis Alliance Formation in Large Emerging Economies

This study examines the impact of research and development (R&D)-specific factors in determining the likelihood of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from developed countries to be attractive partners vis-a-vis forming alliances with SMEs from large emerging economies (LEEs). This study is founded on the knowledge-accessing theory of alliance formation, which emphasises the higher efficiency gains of knowledge application as opposed to knowledge generation. We extend this theory to SMEs on the basis that smaller firms, because of their resources constraints and drive to survive, are likely to use alliances to access external knowledge bases leading to new product development (NPD) opportunities because of the low feasibility of acquiring knowledge. As a mix of complex knowledge is necessary to develop most modern products and services, SMEs are also likely to adopt a more flexible operational approach and to accept compromises to forge knowledge-accessing alliances. We illustrate this theoretical development using primary data collected from British and German biotechnology SMEs, declaring the intention prospectively to form alliances with their counterparts in Brazil. Binary logistic regression was used to identify the factors influencing the likelihood of a firm as an attractive alliance partner. Our results indicate that R&D-specific factors influence the likelihood of firms to be attractive alliance partners. In particular, firms showing an in-house innovation history focused on one or few products are more likely to be attractive alliance partners with LEE firms than those that do not. Another R&D-specific predictor that enhances the chances of alliance partner attractiveness with LEE firms is the firms focused searching and identifying capability relative to technology or equipment that demonstrates good prospects to improve the firms line of products. A third predictor refers to the firms awareness regarding non-cost obstacles for its own technological development. Implications for policy makers and practitioners are also discussed.

Enhancing Value Stream Agility: The Case of the UK Specialty Chemical Industry

As part of a shift in chemical production occurring across the globe, the UK chemicals industry is increasingly moving from commodity to speciality production. In the UK the industrys batch production methods are little changed from previous decades and the speciality chemicals industry faces mounting challenges that argue for an increase in agility throughout the industry value stream. Individual companies and managers have responded in a variety of ways to these challenges. The Britest research project is a concerted industry response that seeks to improve the three key value streams of the industry by introducing new philosophies and methods into plant and process design. This article outlines the Britest approach to introducing agile manufacturing concepts in the speciality chemicals industry and then extends the approach to a more holistic focus on supply networks rather than concentrating on individual production units.

The negative influence of the entrepreneur’s level of higher education on the attractiveness of European SMEs as alliance partners in Brazil: the role of practical experience and international entrepreneurial orientation

Abstract Notwithstanding the contemporary relevance of alliance strategies for SME internationalisation, especially in the case of uncertain business environments, few studies have investigated human resource issues in the context of SMEs prior to alliance formation. Even more scarce are studies looking at the impact of a manager/entrepreneur’s characteristics on pre-alliance formation, despite recognition of the expected crucial role of the entrepreneur in this context and of the strong connection between an entrepreneur and their SME. Drawing on international entrepreneurship theory and empirical observations from an exploratory study, we propose a post hoc conceptual model. The exploratory empirical part of our study employs a sample of entrepreneurs from biotechnology SMEs in the United Kingdom and Germany intending to ally in a large emerging market (i.e. Brazil). Our empirical observations suggest an anomalous (at first glance) negative association between the entrepreneur’s level of higher education (a construct at the individual level) and the attractiveness of the SME as a partner firm vis-à-vis alliance formation (a construct at the firm level). Our post hoc model emphasises the role of practical experience and the corresponding levels of international entrepreneurial orientation as theorised variables mediating the observed empirical relationship. We develop theoretical propositions, and suggest practical implications and future research directions.

The Role of Online Reviews in Services Sector and Implications for Services Firms

Today, consumers share their positive and negative experiences about products and services using social media sites and online platforms provided by companies. Electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) usually spreads through social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), and it affects how consumers make their decisions on what to buy or recommend within their network (Simonson and Rosen 2014). In particular, online reviews have been noted as providing useful information (Yin and Zhang 2014) not only for other customers but also for companies searching for new ways to attract their customers to visit their websites. This chapter aims to investigate the role of online reviews in social media in the services sector and offers implications for services firms.

Brand image perceptions across cultures: a study of symbolic and functional associations

The concept of brand image has received considerable attention in marketing (Batra & Homer, 2004; Dhar & Wertenbroch, 2000; Roth, 1992; Thompson, Rindfleisch, & Arsel, 2006; van Reijmersdal, Neijens, & Smith, 2007; van Rekom, Jacobs, & Verlegh, 2006), yet there is still little agreement on its definition and operationalisation in the literature. As Dobni and Zinkhan (1990) observed, despite the frequent use by scholars of the term “brand image,” its definitions in the literature tend to focus on different elements. It is possible to group definitions of brand image into different categories. For example, brand image has been defined as (a) an attitude extending its meaning beyond the physical product (e.g., Reynolds & Gutman, 1984) and (b) perception, relating brand image to psychological aspects of a products tangible attributes (e.g., Keller, 1998). One generally accepted view is that brand image can be defined as perceptions regarding a brand as reflected by the cluster of associations that consumers connect to the brand name in memory (Herzog, 1963). This is consistent with an associative network memory model. Thus, “brand associations are the other informational nodes linked to the brand node in memory and contain the meaning of the brand for consumers” (Keller, 2003, p. 66).

How Firm-Specific Characteristics Shape Prospective Knowledge-Intensive Alliances in a Large Emerging Economy

One of the main challenges to global development today is the challenge of inclusion; that is, to promote ‘equitable access to the benefits of development regardless of nationality, gender, or race’ (Wolfensohn, 1997). Though not without its detractors, modem biotechnology, in particular technology associated with genetic engineering, offers solutions to many of the major developmental problems facing humanity today, especially those relating to malnutrition, disease and pollution. Recent advances in biotechnology may also help to solve the conundrum of how to promote sustainable development in the face of natural ambitions for improved national and global economic growth and prosperity (EU White Paper, 1994). But the global biotechnology market is fragmented; the greatest technological advances take place in just a few developed countries (Shan and Song, 1997), whereas humanity’s major developmental problems are concentrated mainly in the less-developed economies. Mechanisms are needed so that appropriate biotechnologies created and refined in the ‘north’ (developed countries) are transferred efficiently and effectively to the ‘south’ (developing countries) in some mutually beneficial way.