John Steen

Structure and agency? Actor-network theory and strategic organization

use of collective categories, while avoiding a move to the opposite extreme of methodological individualism. If we follow the making of such connections (not forgetting to include those with non-humans), the organizational stories we tell – and the way in which resources, routines and capabilities feature in these stories – are likely to be different. As a way of indicating how, we identify two areas of research to which this approach can usefully contribute. In both cases, it should be emphasized that actor-network theory is most suited to the analysis of situations characterized by uncertainty, change and innovation; because it is here that new associations are being formed (and old ones abandoned) most visibly and actively. The first area of research is the strategic use of alliances and networks. This resonates with recent thinking about strategy ecology and business ecosystems (Iansiti and Levien, 2004) in its central emphasis on interdependencies between organizations. Drawing on actor-network theory, strategy researchers may find new ways of articulating success and failure in the strategic use of alliances and networks, precisely by charting how links are being forged and what sorts of actors emerge from the process (Steen and Liesch, 2006). Questions include: how do organizations approach the challenge of benefiting from alliances and networks, and why do or don’t they succeed? How does value emerge from new and diverse types of alliances and networks? What are the implications of increased participation in networks and alliances for firms as strategic actors? The formation, stabilization and harnessing of resources, routines and capabilities can be studied as a feature of specific processes of network building (e.g. how and when do these become an integral part of what makes a firm an attractive partner in an alliance?). The extent to which, through strategic management, a few actors are able to hold a heterogeneous assemblage in place, inhabit their preferred role in the network and control the way it changes over time is a question that may also be investigated empirically with this approach. The second area of research we wish to flag relates to continuous effort of (re)discovering what strategy is and what it could be. Actor-network theory suggests finding the answer to the first question by studying how strategy manifests itself in practice, how it becomes mobilized and stabilized through processes of heterogeneous association. Here we find clear resonances with the strategy-as-practice literature (Whittington, 2003), especially in so far as both approaches advocate research methods that follow practitioners in their enactment of strategy rather than sticking too rigidly to pre-established categories and definitions. However, whereas strategy-as-action puts the human strategic actor centre stage, actor-network theory propagates a further flexibility in the nature and characteristics of the actors involved. This generates the potential, both for practitioners and researchers, to define strategy in new ways by making or finding unexpected couplings and boundaries. It also provides an opportunity for reflections of a more critical nature, for example on the question of how power, influence and gain are distributed in particular types of networks and how this could be different. 308 STRATEG IC ORGANIZAT ION 4(3 )

Are Small World Networks Always Best for Innovation

Abstract It is becoming increasingly apparent that a firm’s communication network structure has a significant impact on its innovative capability. We know that in many cases, small world network structures in particular lead to improved innovation output. This paper is the first to test whether or not this finding is also true inside of large project-based firms We study a project team with 130 members using complex network analysis. The team’s project includes several innovations, and the knowledge sharing networks do have small world structures. However, these networks have much more hierarchical structures than those measured in other innovation networks. We conclude that identifting a small world structure is only the first necessary step in analysing such networks. We identift a hierarchical generative mechanism for these structures, which demonstrates that gaining a better understanding of the history and evolution of particular networks is a critical step in analysing them.

Problematizing the internationalization decision: Terrorism-induced risk

Purpose - This paper offers a conceptualization of the internationalization decision confronted by a firm in an environment of terrorism-induced risk. Design/methodology/approach - The approach taken is a conceptualization of the internationalization decision framed from theoretical reasoning and informed by the literature. Findings - The model presents the internationalization decision, a product/market/mode (PMM) combination, in the case of a terrorism-free context and in a with-terrorism context. Using indifference curve mapping of risk/return tradeoffs, an opportunities set of possible PMM combinations and the notion of efficiency, it traces the most attractive opportunities set to show that within this set, the frontier of attractive opportunities is constrained in the with-terrorism case. Propositions are framed to guide future research. While conditions of risk can be calculated, it is concluded that remaining uncalculable is the true uncertainty incited by the systemic effects of international terrorism that call for managerial judgment. Originality/value - The literature in this field reports little on the effects of international terrorism on the firm. With heightened awareness of international terrorism, and the changed environment for the firm operating internationally, it is timely that the effects of terrorism on decision-making in firms be investigated. Advancing beyond description to substantive conceptualization of this decision is an essential step for better understanding of this now pervasive phenomenon.

Ideas are not innovations

Tim Kastelle is a senior lecturer in innovation management at University of Queensland Business School (UQBS). He is managing editor of Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, the leader of the UQBS executive education and MBA innovation programs, and does research and consulting on the topic of management of innovation. John Steen is a senior lecturer in strategy at UQBS. He currently holds an Australian Research Council grant to examine innovation in capital-intensive and project-based firms. He has published in a variety of strategy and innovation journals, but does not refer to any of them when he is talking to managers.

Small worlds: the best network structure for innovation?

The properties of social networks have been used to explain the behaviour and performance of diverse economic and social systems. Recently, attention has been given to a class of network structures identified as ‘small‐worlds’, due to their apparent efficiency in connecting different actors through short path lengths within a relatively sparse network. Intuitively, such network structures should also be conducive for innovation due to better flows of information and the possibility of new connections between skills and ideas. While there is some evidence for this hypothesis, we urge caution in interpreting the results of small‐world studies of innovation and suggest future improvements for empirical research.

The Contagion of International Terrorism and its Effects on the Firm in an Interconnected World

International trade and investment economies are highly integrated and interdependent and can be exploited by organized, international terrorism. The network of inter dependencies in the international economy means that a terrorist attack has the potential to disrupt the functioning of the network, so the effects can reverberate around the world. Governments can control the distributed effects of terrorism by auditing industrial networks to reveal and protect critical hubs and by promoting flexibility in production and distribution of goods and services to improve resilience in the economy. To explain these network effects, the authors draw on the new science of complex networks which has been applied to the physical sciences and is now increasingly being used to explain organizational and economic phenomena.

Entrepreneurial exit: who, what or to where? Regional relocation as a form of exit

Contents: Introduction: Introduction to the Research Handbook of Entrepreneurial Exit Dawn R. DeTienne and Karl Wennberg 1. Perpetually on the Eve of Destruction? Understanding Exits in Capitalist Societies at Multiple Levels of Analysis Howard E. Aldrich 2. Re-evaluating Business Exit from a Gendered Perspective Susan Marlow and Janine Swail 3. When Silos Collapse, what Happens to the Seeds?: A Case Study of the Diffusion of People and Ideas when a Firms Research Programs are Cancelled Kelley Packalen 4. Survey about Venture Capital Financing Exit Stage Saloua el Bouzaidi 5. Event History Analysis using the Kauffman Firm Survey Joseph Farhat and Alicia Robb 6. An Entrepreneurs Perspective--Beginning and Exit Gary Salomon 7. The Role of Retirement Intention in Entrepreneurial Exit Sohrab Soleimanof, Michael H. Morris and Imran Syed 8. Psychological Barriers and Coping Strategies in Business Transfers Explored: Towards a Conceptual Model Edwin Weesie and Lex van Teeffelen 9. The Entrepreneurial Break-up: Disengaging from the Start-up Phase Christina Wicker and Per Davidsson 10. Social ventures: Exploring Entrepreneurial Exit Strategies with a Structuation Lens Yolanda Sarason and Grace Hanley 11. For the Greater Good: Why and how Social Entrepreneurs Exit Social Ventures Jason Lortie 12. Entrepreneurial Exit: Who, What or to Where? Regional Relocation as a Form of Exit Anna Jenkins, John Steen and Martie-Louise Verreynne Index

Drivers of firm formalization in Vietnam: an attention theory explanation

Informal enterprises are widely viewed as a mechanism to engage unemployed people in the economy and thereby alleviate poverty in developing economies. However, over-representation in an economy may lead to both economic growth and broader employment opportunities being sacrificed. This paper presents a process model to investigate three potential drivers for firms to formalize: the first from a desire to grow and develop the firm through innovation, the second from the wish to access government financial support and the third stimulated by the payment of unofficial payments or bribes. We use data from surveys of Vietnamese firms in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 to investigate these drivers of formalization. Although we find support for all three of these drivers, the results differ in significance across years and firm types. We explain these differences using attention theory to show how different situations and events can make the formalization decision more likely over time.

Failure to advance: resource logic for early venture failure

New ventures play an important role in economic growth. The resource logic underlying how these firms develop in the early stages, however, has not received adequate attention in the literature. This paper examines the launch trajectories of embryonic ventures. We propose a configurational model of these trajectories based on the resources and stages required to establish a viable commercial entity. Potential launching paths are identified, from the inception of a new product/service idea through to success outcomes, including rapid, independent sales growth, stabilized profit, acquisition or Initial Public Offering. We argue that embryonic firms must balance the development of product, financial and human resources through waves of resource accumulation as they move through different stages of development. We summarize our arguments in a model of venture evolution.

Business model design and innovation: Unlocking the performance benefits of innovation

We investigate the relationships between innovation in the business model, business model design themes, and firm performance. The ‘business model view’ and the related ‘business model innovation’ as emerging strategy, and innovation research domains, remain both ill-defined and marred by vague construct boundaries and limited empirical support. We build on existing theory to test our research model in a sample of 331 Australian firms. We find that business model design themes, which we argue are mechanisms for appropriating value from the firm’s business model, mediate the relationship between innovation and firm performance. Innovation without clarity in the business model leads to modest or negligible performance outcomes. We advocate for novelty-centered design themes because they unlock and translate the value from innovation to firm performance to a greater extent than transaction efficiency and user simplicity. We contend that broad innovation within the business model matters to performance but only if firms focus their business model design efforts more narrowly on coherently entrenching novelty and efficiency within their activity and transaction architecture.