Liselore Berghman

Value innovation in the functional foods industry: Deviations from the industry recipe

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on how new value creation can be driven by value innovation. It aims to study the process of value innovation within the functional foods industry, one of the fastest‐growing segments of the food industry. The paper seeks to highlight value innovation efforts by ingredient suppliers in the functional foods industry and to describe how suppliers seek to break the dominant logic, highlighting drivers of and obstacles to doing so.Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on a qualitative methodology. Two focus groups with participants from different levels in the industrys value chain were organized, combined with in‐depth interviews with managers and industry experts. This interpretive approach allows for the identifications of managerial cognitions, considered a necessity, given the fact that these types of innovations are hard‐to‐detect strategic “embryos” and they must be continuously contrasted against the experienced “industry recipe”.Findings – The...

Convergence or divergence? A comparison of informal consultant–client relationship development practices in Britain, France and Germany

A continuing debate in the field of management and organization studies is whether globalization is giving rise to universal ways of working. This study contributes to the debate by turning the attention to management consultancy work, an area of economic activity that is often said to be highly globalized. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in three nations – Britain, France and Germany – it explores whether and how far the informal client relationships developed by management consultants vary across countries. The findings not only reveal commonalities but also significant differences in how consultants in the three different national contexts approach issues of location, work/private life boundaries, and hierarchy in their client relationship development work. We, thus, find that despite globalization pressures, cross-national differences in management consultancy work continue to matter.

Defining Hybridity and Hybrid Contingencies in Public Organizations: An Alternative Conceptual Model

Abstract Purpose The discussion about public sector performance is still present today, despite the profound research that has already tried to address this subject. Furthermore, theory links negative effects on organizational performance with increased levels of organizational complexity. However, literature thus far did not succeed to put forward a successful theory that explains why and how public organizations became increasingly complex. To answer this question, we argue that increased organizational complexity can be explained by viewing public organizations as the hybrid result of different institutional logics, which are shaped by various management views. However, former research mainly concentrated on the separate study of management views such as traditional public management (TPM), NPM, and post-NPM. Although appealing, research that approaches hybridity from this perspective is fairly limited. Methodology/approach We conducted a literature review in which we studied 80 articles about traditional public management, NPM, and post-NPM. Findings We found that these management views essentially differ on the base of three fault lines, depending on the level of the organizational culture. These fault lines, according to the management view, together result in nine dimensions. By combing dimensions of the different management views, we argue that a public organization becomes hybrid. Furthermore, in line with findings of contingency theory, we explain the level of hybridity might depend on the level of tight coupling for a given organization. Finally, we developed propositions that explain hybridity as the result of isomorphic forces, organizational change, and organizational resistance to change and that link hybridization with processes of selective coupling. Originality/value The value of this chapter lies in its real-life applicability.