Urs Daellenbach

Rethinking research methods for the resource‐based perspective: isolating sources of sustainable competitive advantage

An exploration of traditional perspectives and contemporary propositions regarding sustainable competitive advantage points to the conclusion that the locus of advantage is located specifically within organizational effects. The key issue emerges that research investigating sources of sustainable competitive advantage must be done not only on organizations but also in organizations. The fallout from this conclusion is, however, that the research methodologies traditionally used in strategy research will not unambiguously uncover these sources of sustainable advantage. Using organizational culture as an example of a possible source of sustainable advantage within a resource-based paradigm, a four-step research framework is suggested for isolating these organizational effects. Copyright

Commitment to Innovation: The Impact of Top Management Team Characteristics

Many organizational and environmental factors influence a firm’s commitment to innovation. Among the organizational factors, the perceptual lens of the top management team and the team’s dynamics are posited to have a significant direct impact on the firm’s commitment to innovation. This study revisits the classic arguments of Hayes and Abernathy and empirically examines several of their propositions. The results clearly indicate a positive relationship between the technical orientation of the TMT/CEO and above-average R&D intensity. This effect remains even after controlling for the impact of performance in prior periods and firm diversification. Overall, these results suggest that establishing a high level of commitment to innovation will be promoted or impeded in many organizations because of the predispositions of the CEO and top management team.

Economic appraisal of new technology in the absence of survival data—The case of total hip replacement

The development of total hip replacement has reached a level at which little further improvement in pain relief or quality of life can be expected from the introduction of new prosthetic technology. Rather, it is reasonable to expect longer trouble-free prosthetic life. This paper develops a mathematical model for a comparative economic appraisal of two types of prostheses, the conventional cemented one and the new cementless one. The lack of reliable survivorship data precludes reaching definite conclusions. However, by extensive sensitivity analysis with respect to a number of cost parameters the model can be used to derive conditions under which the cementless prosthesis is more cost effective. Expert medical judgement can then be used to gage whether these conditions are likely to be satisfied. The paper highlights the importance of collecting statistically valid performance data on any new medical technology from its first introduction. Without these, its full-scale adoption will be based largely on subjective grounds rather than a proper cost benefit analysis. It finally shows how both aspects--economic modeling and scientific data collection--form part of an integrated management programme for the economic evaluation of new medical technology.

A contingency fit model of critical success factors for software development projects: A comparison of agile and traditional plan-based methodologies

– While the choices available for project management methodologies have increased significantly, questions remain on whether project managers fully consider their alternatives. When project categorization systems and criteria are not logically matched with project objectives, characteristics and environment, this may provide the key reason for why many software projects are reported to fail to deliver on time, budget or do not give value to the client. The purpose of this paper is to identify and categorize critical success factors (CSFs) and develop a contingency fit model contrasting perspectives of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies. , – By systematically reviewing the previous literature, a total of 37 CSFs for software development projects are identified from 148 articles, and then categorized into three major CSFs: organizational, team and customer factors. A contingency fit model augments this by highlighting the necessity to match project characteristics and project management methodology to these CSFs. , – Within the three major categories of CSFs, individual factors are ranked based on how frequently they have been cited in previous studies, overall as well as across the two main project management methodologies (traditional, agile). Differences in these rankings as well as mixed empirical support suggest that previous research may not have adequately theorized when particular CSFs will affect project success and lend support for the hypothesized contingency model between CSFs, project characteristics and project success criteria. , – This research is conceptual and meta-analytic in its focus. A crucial task for future research should be to test the contingency fit model developed using empirical data. There is no broad consensus among researchers and practitioners in categorizing CSFs for software development projects. However, through an extensive search and analysis of the literature on CSFs for software development projects, the research provides greater clarity on the categories of CSFs and how their direct, indirect and moderated effects on project success can be modelled. , – This study proposes a contingency fit model and contributes towards developing a theory for assessing the role of CSFs for project success. While future empirical testing of this conceptual model is essential, it provides an initial step for guiding quantitative data collection, specifies detailed empirical analysis for comparative studies, and is likely to improve clarity in debate. Since previous studies have not rigorously assessed the impact of fit between project characteristics, project environment and project management methodology on project success, additional empirically robust studies will help to clarify contradictory findings that have limited theory development for CSFs of software development projects to date. , – Previous research for software development projects has frequently not fully incorporated contingency as moderation or contingency as fit (traditional vs agile). This research sets out to develop fully a contingency fit perspective on software development project success, through contrasting traditional plan-driven and agile methodologies. To do this, the paper systematically identifies and ranks 37 CSFs for software projects from 148 journal publications and holistically categorizes them as organizational, team, customer and project factors.

Belonging to a Virtual Research Centre: Exploring the Influence of Social Capital Formation Processes on Member Identification in a Virtual Organization

Identification, a persons sense of belonging, is thought to have positive outcomes because those who identify strongly will be more motivated to achieve organizational goals. This study applies a social capital lens in order to highlight how different social capital formation processes contribute to member identification, with a focus on virtual organizations where dispersed membership may preclude face-to-face interactions. The study provides a rare opportunity to explore variation in identification in a single organizational context. The results highlight how some dimensions of social capital augment each other and affect identification through the four conditions that influence social capital development: time, interdependence, interaction and closure. The study suggests that, while creating interdependence and an array of means for interaction support the development of both social capital and identification, not all members of the organization need to feel equally connected. Partial closure appears beneficial for information flows and renewal of the virtual organization.

Ten Years After: Some Suggestions for Future Resource-Based View Research

While research related to the resource-based view (RBV) has expanded markedly in the last decade, debates continue over the theory, the extent to which our understanding of the theory has been advanced in a meaningful way, and the most appropriate approaches for empirical RBV research. We present some additional perspectives on current debates, summarize key challenges that empirical studies face, and offer some suggestions and directions for future RBV research.

Legitimacy defense during post-merger integration: Between coupling and compartmentalization

During post-merger integration, the realization of the benefits of potential synergies depends on managing the legitimacy of the merger. However, we still know little about how threats that change stakeholders’ assessments of a merger’s legitimacy are managed. This study is based on the merger case of Air New Zealand’s trans-national acquisition of Ansett Australia where a delegitimizing event occurred at Ansett relatively early after the integration had started. The study builds a framework of an evolving legitimation process depicting the oscillation between legitimation responses that maintain the coupling between the two organizations and a compartmentalization response used to manage diverse stakeholders’ legitimacy demands and illegitimacy spillover concerns. We explain how these legitimation responses can create an unproductive oscillation where stakeholder assessments of illegitimacy build up and ultimately become unresolvable. Our processual framework provides novel insights regarding when attempts to defend legitimacy can prove self-defeating, demonstrating how previous responses emphasizing integration or separation can affect the success of subsequent swings back to coupling or compartmentalization.

Small but sophisticated

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) and small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) brand management knowledge. It explores the brand management practices of four entrepreneurially driven market innovators. The authors add theoretical and practical insight by distinguishing the brand management approaches of small- and medium-sized firms. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use purposive sampling to select 15 producers of high or medium value-add from the food and beverage industry. Data include secondary sources and two rounds of in-depth interviews, first, between the project leader and CEO/founder of each company and, second, between members of the project team and functional managers of the organisations. Data were coded, analysed and agreement reached between the co-authors. Findings – Four firms were characterised as having integrated brand orientation (Wong and Merrilees, 2005) and as using market innovation as an EM practise. All four use b...

“Problem‐sourcing”: a re‐framing of open innovation for R&D organisations

Purpose - While the benefits of open innovation (OI) and crowdsourcing (CS) for solutions to R&D problems have been widely promoted in the last ten years, their appropriateness for organisations specialising in providing R&D services has not been explicitly considered. This paper aims to examine an R&D organisations response to increased adoption of OI and CS, highlight their drawbacks in this context, and analyse how and why the alternative of problem-sourcing (PS) proved more effective. Design/methodology/approach - The paper provides an in-depth documentation and analysis of an initiative called: The “Whats Your Problem New Zealand?” (WYPNZ) challenge. The use of a single case and qualitative approach allows the development of an illustrative, rich description and is suited to studying unique and novel events. Findings - In the context of professional R&D organisations, a range of benefits of CS for R&D problems rather than solutions were identified, including generating a potential pipeline of projects and clients as well as avoiding the challenge to the professional status of the organisations research capability. An unexpected side-effect was that the reputation of the research organisation as open, accessible and helpful was greatly enhanced. The success of the PS approach to CS for R&D provides insight into how some of the pitfalls of OI/CS can be better understood and potentially managed. Originality/value - The PS model provided by the “WYPNZ” initiative represents a new strategic possibility for R&D organisations that complements their traditional competencies by drawing on the openness that OI and CS seek to leverage. As such, it can provide insights for other organisations wishing to make use of the connectivity afforded by OI/CS in an alternative mode to that typically in use and reported in the literature.

Empirical comparison of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies: Critical success factors for outsourced software development projects from vendors’ perspective

Purpose Aligning the project management methodology (PMM) to a particular project is considered to be essential for project success. Many outsourced software projects fail to deliver on time, budget or do not give value to the client due to inappropriate choice of a PMM. Despite the increasing range of available choices, project managers frequently fail to seriously consider their alternatives. They tend to narrowly tailor project categorization systems and categorization criterion is often not logically linked with project objectives. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a contingency fit model comparing the differences between critical success factors (CSFs) for outsourced software development projects in the current context of traditional plan-based and agile methodologies. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model and 54 hypotheses were developed from a literature review. An online Qualtrics survey was used to collect data to test the proposed model. The survey was administered to a large sample of senior software project managers and practitioners who were involved in international outsourced software development projects across the globe with 984 valid responses. Findings Results indicate that various CSFs differ significantly across agile and traditional plan-based methodologies, and in different ways for various project success measures. Research limitations/implications This study is cross-sectional in nature and data for all variables were obtained from the same sources, meaning that common method bias remains a potential threat. Further refinement of the instrument using different sources of data for variables and future replication using longitudinal approach is highly recommended. Practical implications Practical implications of these results suggest project managers should tailor PMMs according to various organizational, team, customer and project factors to reduce project failure rates. Originality/value Unlike previous studies this paper develops and empirically validates a contingency fit model comparing the differences between CSFs for outsourced software development projects in the context of PMMs.