Deepa Aravind

Managerial Innovation: Conceptions, Processes, and Antecedents

The expansive research on innovation in organizations has primarily followed a technological imperative, postulating that organizations organize their innovation efforts through research and development (R&D) activities. Theories of innovation are thus shaped mosdy from the studies of technology-based innovations in the manufacturing sector, yet are applied in all contexts. This article advocates research on managerial innovations - new approaches to devise strategy and structure of tasks and units, modify the organizations management processes and administrative systems, motivate and reward organizational members, and enable organizational adaptation and change. We examine the conceptual development, generation and adoption processes, antecedents, and influences of managerial innovation on organizational conduct. By increasing an understanding of managerial innovation, this article aims to complement existing theories of innovation derived from the studies of technological innovations and thus help extend and advance theory and research on innovation process and outcome in organizations.

Corporate social responsibility practices in India: approach, drivers, and barriers

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine how corporations in India interpret corporate social responsibility (CSR). Focusing on four commonly known approaches: the ethical, the statist, the liberal, and the stakeholder approach, the paper seeks to investigate the reported drivers and barriers to implementing CSR practices.Design/methodology/approach – The paper surveyed top‐level managers of a sample of companies currently engaging in a CSR initiative, representing a variety of industry sectors.Findings – The study finds that the CSR approach that is most favored by Indian firms is the stakeholder approach and that the caring or the moral motive, followed by the strategic or profit motive, are important drivers for Indian firms to pursue CSR. Further, the results indicate that the most significant obstacles to CSR implementation are those related to lack of resources, followed by those related to the complexity and difficulty of implementing CSR.Research limitations/implications – The study focuses o...

The Global Compact: an analysis of the motivations of adoption in the Spanish context

In the 10 years after the launch of the United Nations Global Compact (GC), there have been very few empirical assessments of the initiative in the academic literature. In this study, drawing from institutional theory and the resource‐based view of the firm, we examine motivations of business participants to adopt the GC principles in the Spanish context. Using survey data from Spain – the country reporting the highest volume of business participants in the GC – we find that external institutional forces as well as internal organisational resources shape motivations for adopting GC principles. In particular, we find that early and late adopters are motivated similarly by the perceived opportunity of achieving image gains, while late adopters are motivated more by economic gains than early adopters. We further find that regardless of the extent of internal intangible resources possessed, firms are similarly motivated by economic gains. The results also show that companies with more intangible resources are motivated more by image gains than those with fewer resources. Our findings indicate that contrary to its earlier days, economic gains have emerged as an important motivator for the adopters of the GC principles with image gains still being an important motivator.

Organizational Structure and Innovation Revisited: From Organic To Ambidextrous Structure

Publisher Summary Innovation is a popular area of study in a variety of fields, such as business, economics, engineering, psychology, public administration, and sociology. It is viewed as a concept central to economic growth, the creation of new industries and businesses, competitive advantage and performance of firms, and the effective management of business and public organizations. Innovation in organizations is generally understood in two ways: more specifically, it is distinguished from closely related concepts like creativity and change; more broadly, it includes all. Innovation has been used to represent a variety of concepts and phenomena, including creativity and creative problem solving, speed or extent of product introduction, organizational change, technological change, acquisition of new firms, and so on. Researchers have conceived of innovations in organizations as both a discrete product and outcome, or as a process. The primary goal of the studies of innovation as an outcome is to determine the contextual, structural, and process conditions under which organizations innovate. Innovation as outcome is intended to create a new opportunity or satisfy an existing opportunity, and thus, to contribute to the organizations effectiveness and competitiveness.

The impact of the crisis on corporate responsibility: the case of UN global compact participants in the USA

Purpose – This paper seeks to understand what impact the current economic and financial crisis has had on the business and non‐business sectors corporate responsibility (CR) efforts, as well as to describe the critical obstacles being reported to such efforts. It proposes to do this by examining one key CSR initiative, namely, the United Nations Global Compact (GC).Design/methodology/approach – A two‐part empirical investigation was conducted on a sample of GC participants (US signatories). The first method comprises a comprehensive survey completed mainly by company CEOs. The second approach involves content analysis of CEO statements (extracted from CSR reports – fiscal years 2007‐2009), which describe new strategies for managing under challenging economic and financial times.Findings – It was found that the CSR efforts of participants of the GC that have integrated their CSR into their policies, programs, performance, and goals, and those with lesser conformity with the active principles of the GC wil...

Organizational Structure and Innovation Revisited

Publisher Summary Innovation is a popular area of study in a variety of fields, such as business, economics, engineering, psychology, public administration, and sociology. It is viewed as a concept central to economic growth, the creation of new industries and businesses, competitive advantage and performance of firms, and the effective management of business and public organizations. Innovation in organizations is generally understood in two ways: more specifically, it is distinguished from closely related concepts like creativity and change; more broadly, it includes all. Innovation has been used to represent a variety of concepts and phenomena, including creativity and creative problem solving, speed or extent of product introduction, organizational change, technological change, acquisition of new firms, and so on. Researchers have conceived of innovations in organizations as both a discrete product and outcome, or as a process. The primary goal of the studies of innovation as an outcome is to determine the contextual, structural, and process conditions under which organizations innovate. Innovation as outcome is intended to create a new opportunity or satisfy an existing opportunity, and thus, to contribute to the organizations effectiveness and competitiveness.

Chapter 19 – Organizational Structure and Innovation Revisited: From Organic To Ambidextrous Structure

Publisher Summary Innovation is a popular area of study in a variety of fields, such as business, economics, engineering, psychology, public administration, and sociology. It is viewed as a concept central to economic growth, the creation of new industries and businesses, competitive advantage and performance of firms, and the effective management of business and public organizations. Innovation in organizations is generally understood in two ways: more specifically, it is distinguished from closely related concepts like creativity and change; more broadly, it includes all. Innovation has been used to represent a variety of concepts and phenomena, including creativity and creative problem solving, speed or extent of product introduction, organizational change, technological change, acquisition of new firms, and so on. Researchers have conceived of innovations in organizations as both a discrete product and outcome, or as a process. The primary goal of the studies of innovation as an outcome is to determine the contextual, structural, and process conditions under which organizations innovate. Innovation as outcome is intended to create a new opportunity or satisfy an existing opportunity, and thus, to contribute to the organizations effectiveness and competitiveness.

Environmental Performance: Interplay Between the Roles of Process Innovation Capability and Managerial Innovation Implementation

Unlike a large portion of previous innovation research that has focused on performance consequences of the adoption of technological innovations, this study focuses on the benefits gained from the implementation of managerial innovations. We examine the mediating role of managerial innovation implementation on the influences of technological process innovation capability and pressure from external stakeholders on environmental performance. We develop hypotheses and test them using survey data from 192 ISO 14001 certified facilities in the US. The results suggest that extent of implementation partially mediate the effect of process innovation capability but fully mediate the effect of external pressure on environmental performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice on the implementation of managerial innovations.