Robin Gustafsson

Turning Point Mechanisms in a Dualistic Process Model of Institutional Emergence: The Case of the Diesel Particulate Filter in Germany

Based on an in-depth case study investigating the emergence of a normative institution, namely the diesel particulate filter (DPF) as a de facto standard for diesel cars in Germany, this paper develops a dualistic process model of institutional emergence which reflects the fundamental oppositional character of institutional actors involved in a series of framing contests. The proposed model features distinct phases punctuated by turning point mechanisms that shape the process leading to institutional emergence. Three specific turning point mechanisms were identified: local objectification, movement legitimacy and critical actors taking action. This model provides a novel perspective on institutional emergence in that it explains shifts in contestation and the emergence of an institution as a temporal resolution reached through coercion rather than out of a consensus as several institutionalization models assume. The results also suggest that the industry under attack from a social movement tends to deploy buffering strategies in an attempt to protect itself. Finally, we outline future directions for studying processes around contested fields and turning point mechanisms.

Extending community management to industry-university-government organizations

There has been an emergence of collaborative research networks of industry‐university‐government relationships, or so‐called Triple Helix (TH) organizations. Many TH organizations strive for research and innovation community management. In the innovation and knowledge management literature, community management offers open, participatory, and distributed innovation processes. How community management elements manifest, how they evolve, and what are related contingencies remain poorly understood, especially in the case of TH organizations. Our study examines how two TH organizations in Finland have adopted community management elements, how these elements have evolved, and the contingencies that have affected adoption and evolution. We report on the first 6 years of operations in two different TH organizations. Community‐management elements have accommodated divergent interests in TH organizations, but they have also been subject to considerable degrees of conflict and tension. We extend the innovation community management literature by explicating community management elements in a TH context, we illustrate how TH organizations adopt and evolve these elements, and we identify two contingencies for community management elements in a TH context.

How institutions matter "in time": The temporal structures of practices and their effects on practice reproduction

Abstract We argue that our understanding of how institutions matter has been undermined by a piecemeal approach to temporality in institutional analyses. This paper addresses this shortcoming in the literature. We bring temporality to the fore by conceptualizing practices, which constitute institutions, as understood, situated, and coordinated in time by temporal structures. We elaborate an integrated framework of temporal structures that consist of three types: temporal patterns, temporal conceptions, and temporal orientations – and outline how each type contributes to the reproduction of practices. We discuss the implications of this framework for sustainability initiatives and conclude by suggesting future avenues of research on the temporal foundations of institutions.

Exploiting and Defending Open Digital Platforms with Boundary Resources: Android’s Five Platform Forks

Digital platforms can be opened in two ways to promote innovation and value generation. A platform owner can open access for third-party participants by establishing boundary resources, such as APIs and an app store, to allow complements to be developed and shared for the platform. Furthermore, to foster cooperation with the complementors, the platform owner can use an open-source license boundary resource to open and share the platform’s core resources. However, openness that is too wide renders the platform and its shared resources vulnerable to strategic exploitation. To our knowledge, platform strategies that promote such negative outcomes have remained unexplored in past research. We identify and analyze a prominent form of strategic exploitation called platform forking in which a hostile firm, i.e., a forker, bypasses the host’s controlling boundary resources and exploits the platform’s shared resources, core and complements, to create a competing platform business. We investigate platform forking o...

Value Creation from the Internet of Things in Heavy Machinery: A Middle Manager Perspective

We develop a novel understanding of value creation from the Internet of Things (IoT) in the heavy machinery industry. We analyze the operational middle management perspective on the current state of IoT implementation in four industry segments utilizing heavy machinery, including chemicals, electrical equipment, marine, and pulp and paper. We find four value drivers from IoT (product optimization, maintenance and recovery optimization, energy efficiency, and safety improvements) that pertain to the underlying joint value driver of predictability with operating heavy machinery. Furthermore, we outline current core issues and constraints in IoT data utilization and value realization in the heavy machinery industry. Our findings expose how middle managers recognize high value potential from IoT implementation but indicate only gradual value capture if data gathering, knowledge sharing, and data analytics are not improved. Architectural transformation programs that include establishing knowledge-sharing hubs and connected expertise between organizational units, external experts, and suppliers are needed to unlock the full novel value-creation potential of the IoT in heavy machinery.