scholarly journals Creating products in the absence of markets: a robust design approach

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Silberzahn ◽  
Christophe Midler
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Robust Design ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Exploration Process ◽  
Strategic Process ◽  
Alternative Approach

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine how firms deal with a situation of true uncertainty about their potential markets and technologies. Specifically, it asks how firms can create products when the corresponding market does not exist.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a longitudinal study of a high‐tech firm, combined with analysis of existing theory in product design and entrepreneurship.FindingsMarkets and products are usually a defining choice made early on by firms in their strategic process. Such a choice guides their development by providing a “stable concept” to which decisions can be related. When markets do not exist yet, however, this approach is not effective. Early choice of products and markets limits firms' flexibility by constraining their ability and willingness to adapt, while fundamental new technical and market information is likely to emerge during the project that will prove the initial assumptions wrong. The paper shows an alternative approach where products and markets actually result from a generic process of products and markets exploration driven by the firm. It is suggested that this approach forms a robust design in that it allows the firm to deal with the uncertainty by simultaneously developing its products and exploring markets, while preserving the flexibility to adapt to the changing environment.Practical implicationsThe practical implication of this paper is to suggest an alternative approach to deliberate planning in high‐tech ventures. With this approach, rather than markets and products, strategy defines a market and technology exploration process.Originality/valueThe paper is original in three ways. It links the product design and market exploration processes in high‐tech firm development; it is based on an in‐depth longitudinal study; and it results from an academic‐practitioner collaborative work.

Toward a process and situated view of compromises

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 835-855
Author(s):  
Anthony Hussenot
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Process View

Purpose To understand how collaborative work practices emerge and evolve throughout activities, the purpose of this paper is to comprehend the making of compromises from a process view. Compromises are here understood as constantly evolving throughout activities. Design/methodology/approach The author relies on the Actor-Network Theory to define two dynamics participating in the making of compromises: the translation and the association. These two dynamics are then illustrated with a case study about the development of a Human Resource Management device that took place in a bank in Luxembourg. From this case, the author focuses on the emergence of various compromises about the project’s purpose. Findings Based on the insights brought by the theoretical framework and case studies, compromise is understood as a temporary result of the translations and associations between humans and non-humans. Compromise is also anything that is shared by actors (meaning, categories, objectives, etc). that enables them to make their collective activity possible. This process view of compromises makes three contributions: it fully recognizes that compromise is not stable but situated in practices, it highlights the mediating role of compromises and it insists on the interrelation between compromises throughout the activity. Originality/value The matter of compromise has mainly been studied from a moral standpoint as a stable agreement, whatever the context. This article also provides an alternative approach to understanding compromise as situated in practices.

Towards a taxonomy of intergenerational knowledge transfer practices

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-91
Author(s):  
Kerstin Kuyken ◽  
Mehran Ebrahimi ◽  
Anne-Laure Saives
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Younger Workers ◽  
Intergenerational Knowledge

Purpose This paper aims to develop a better understanding of intergenerational knowledge transfer (IKT) practices by adopting a context-related and comparative perspective. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study design involving 83 interviews and non-participative observation in German and Quebec organizations has been chosen. Findings Two distinctive archetypes of IKT emerge from both national contexts: “we-individualizing” (Germany) and “I-connecting” (Quebec), leading to an eightfold taxonomy of IKT practices. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to young and senior workers and to high-tech sectors. Originality/value Comparative and inductive study of IKT, adaptation of IKT practices to national contexts, retaining younger workers. This inductive and comparative study allows a better adaptation of IKT practices to national contexts and therefore a better retention of younger workers.

Numerical analysis of the shear strength of circular reinforced concrete columns subjected to cyclic lateral loads using linear genetic programming

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 2517-2537
Author(s):  
Mostafa Rezvani Sharif ◽  
Seyed Mohammad Reza Sadri Tabaei Zavareh
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Shear Strength ◽  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Genetic Programming ◽  
Linear Genetic Programming ◽  
Rc Columns ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Engineering Problems

Purpose The shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) columns under cyclic lateral loading is a crucial concern, particularly, in the seismic design of RC structures. Considering the costly procedure of testing methods for measuring the real value of the shear strength factor and the existence of several parameters impacting the system behavior, numerical modeling techniques have been very much appreciated by engineers and researchers. This study aims to propose a new model for estimation of the shear strength of cyclically loaded circular RC columns through a robust computational intelligence approach, namely, linear genetic programming (LGP). Design/methodology/approach LGP is a data-driven self-adaptive algorithm recently used for classification, pattern recognition and numerical modeling of engineering problems. A reliable database consisting of 64 experimental data is collected for the development of shear strength LGP models here. The obtained models are evaluated from both engineering and accuracy perspectives by means of several indicators and supplementary studies and the optimal model is presented for further purposes. Additionally, the capability of LGP is examined to be used as an alternative approach for the numerical analysis of engineering problems. Findings A new predictive model is proposed for the estimation of the shear strength of cyclically loaded circular RC columns using the LGP approach. To demonstrate the capability of the proposed model, the analysis results are compared to those obtained by some well-known models recommended in the existing literature. The results confirm the potential of the LGP approach for numerical analysis of engineering problems in addition to the fact that the obtained LGP model outperforms existing models in estimation and predictability. Originality/value This paper mainly represents the capability of the LGP approach as a robust alternative approach among existing analytical and numerical methods for modeling and analysis of relevant engineering approximation and estimation problems. The authors are confident that the shear strength model proposed can be used for design and pre-design aims. The authors also declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Does uncertainty boost overconfidence? The case of financial analysts' forecasts

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Bessière ◽  
Taoufik Elkemali
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Private Information ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Forecast Dispersion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Announcement ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sectional Analysis

Purpose – This article aims to examine the link between uncertainty and analysts' reaction to earnings announcements for a sample of European firms during the period 1997-2007. In the same way as Daniel et al., the authors posit that overconfidence leads to an overreaction to private information followed by an underreaction when the information becomes public. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the authors test analysts' overconfidence through the overreaction preceding a public announcement followed by an underreaction after the announcement. If overconfidence occurs, over- and underreactions should be, respectively, observed before and after the public announcement. If uncertainty boosts overconfidence, the authors predict that these two combined misreactions should be stronger when uncertainty is higher. Uncertainty is defined according to technology intensity, and separate two types of firms: high-tech or low-tech. The authors use a sample of European firms during the period 1997-2007. Findings – The results support the overconfidence hypothesis. The authors jointly observe the two phenomena of under- and overreaction. Overreaction occurs when the information has not yet been made public and disappears just after public release. The results also show that both effects are more important for the high-tech subsample. For robustness, the authors sort the sample using analyst forecast dispersion as a proxy for uncertainty and obtain similar results. The authors also document that the high-tech stocks crash in 2000-2001 moderated the overconfidence of analysts, which then strongly declined during the post-crash period. Originality/value – This study offers interesting insights in two ways. First, in the area of financial markets, it provides a test of a major over- and underreaction model and implements it to analysts' reactions through their revisions (versus investors' reactions through stock returns). Second, in a broader way, it deals with the link between uncertainty and biases. The results are consistent with the experimental evidence and extend it to a cross-sectional analysis that reinforces it as pointed out by Kumar.

A GM(1,N)-based economic cybernetics model for the high-tech industries in China

Kybernetes ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 672-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng-Xin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Differential Equation ◽  
Patent Application ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Total Output ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fixed Assets ◽  
Grey Differential Equation ◽  
Medical Equipments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose an economic cybernetics model based on the grey differential equation GM(1,N) for China's high-tech industries and provide the necessary support to assist high-tech industries management departments with their policy making. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the principle of grey differential equation GM(1,N), the grey differential equations of five high-tech industries in China are established using the net fixed assets, labor quantity and patent application quantity as cybernetics variables. After the discretization and first-order subtraction reduction to the simultaneous equation of the five grey models, a linear cybernetics model is resulted in. The structure parameters in the cybernetics system show explicit economic significance and can be identified through least square principle. At last, the actual data in 2004-2010 are introduced to empirically analyze the high-tech industrial system in China. Findings – The cybernetics system for China's high-tech industries are stable, observable, and controllable. On the whole, China's high-tech industries show higher output coefficients of the patent application quantity than those of net fixed assets and labor quantity. This suggests that China's industry development mainly depends on technological innovation rather than capital or labor inputs. It is expected that the total output value of China's high-tech industries will grow at an average annual rate of 15 percent in 2011-2015, with contributions of pharmaceuticals, aircraft and spacecraft, electronic and telecommunication equipments, computers and office equipments, medical equipments and meters by 21, 16, 13, 10, and 28 percent, respectively. In addition, pharmaceuticals, as well as medical equipments and meters, present upward proportions in the gross of Chinese high-tech industries significantly. Electronic and telecommunication equipments, plus computers and office equipments exhibit an obvious decreasing proportion. The proportion of the output value of aircraft and spacecraft is basically stable. Practical implications – Empirical analysis results are helpful for related management departments to formulate reasonable industrial policies to keep the sustained and stable development of the high-tech industries in China. Originality/value – Based on the grey differential equation GM(1,N), this research puts forward an economic cybernetics model for the high-tech industries in China. This model is applicable to the economic system with small sample data set.

Leadership, Innovation Among Tunisian ICT SMEs

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (03) ◽  
pp. 283-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sondes Kacem ◽  
Sana El Harbi
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Implementation Of Innovations ◽  
The Impact

Currently, innovation is a major challenge in emerging economies such as Tunisia. Although the influence of leadership seems evident in the implementation of innovations, few studies have investigated this impact; especially for SMEs in the ICT sector. For this purpose, we propose to highlight the impact of leadership on the implementation of innovations in SMEs through exploratory qualitative study of five small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the high-tech sector in Tunisia, to understand the management styles of the chief executive officers (CEOs) and their motivations towards innovative activities. The results of this investigation show that the style of leadership in the ICT sector is both participative and transformational. Only organizational innovation has been detected. Collaborative work and group cohesion are the major cultural aspects of innovation. Items from this exploration allows us to clarify aspects of three basic concepts that make up our conceptual model (leadership, culture of innovation, and innovations) for testing later under a quantitative study by the method of structural equation modeling.

Travelling inner landscapes: a longitudinal study on transcultural identity development

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 272-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude-Hélène Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
Single Individual ◽  
Single Male ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate insights into the identity construction and development of a selected single male individual in Cape Town, South Africa. It aims at increasing the in-depth understanding of the complexities of identity construction in a transcultural setting and provides emic perspectives on a micro-individual level over a period of ten years. Design/methodology/approach – This research study is based on the post-modernist premise by considering phenomenological and interpretative paradigms most relevant. It is a longitudinal study, conducted with a single individual over a period of ten years by using various research methods as well as triangulation of methods, theories and data. Data were analysed through content analysis. Findings – This research provides in-depth information on the struggle of a single person to construct and re-construct his identity and find answers to the question “Who am I?” in the multifaceted and hypercomplex transcultural environment of Cape Town. It shows the attempts to developing a coherent multiple identity over a period of ten years, reconstructing the past, creating the present and envisioning the future. Practical implications – This research has practical implications for practitioners working with identity (development) in transcultural settings. It provides important in-depth information on “nomadic identities” for coaching, counselling or therapies in transcultural settings. Originality/value – This paper provides new and original insights into long-term identity development of an individual in a transcultural urban space.

scholarly journals “Happy slaves”? The adaptation problem and identity politics in the writings of Amartya Sen

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 1178-1193
Author(s):  
Tony Burns
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Mary Wollstonecraft ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Amartya Sen’s notion of adaptation and his views on identity politics by focussing on the issue of slavery and, more specifically, on the example of the happy or contented slave. Design/methodology/approach The paper is text based. The methodological approach adopted is that of conceptual analysis, as is typical for work of this kind. Findings The paper concludes that the example of the happy or contented slave is indeed a fruitful one for those interested in exploring the relationship between Sen’s views on “the adaptation problem” and his views on identity politics, especially in relation to the subjection of women. Here Sen’s debt to the ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill is particularly important. Research limitations/implications One implication of the argument of the paper is that there is a need to consider more carefully the differences that exist between the views of Wollstonecraft and Mill, so far as the example of the happy or contented slave is concerned. Practical implications One practical implication of the paper is that, hopefully, it establishes the continued relevance of the ideas of thinkers such as Wollstonecraft and Mill today, not least because of the influence that they have had on theoreticians such as Amartya Sen. Social implications The paper addresses issues which are of considerable social and political significance, especially for women in underdeveloped societies today. Originality/value The example of the happy or contented slave has not received much discussion in the literature on Sen, although Sen himself has suggested that the distinction between happiness and contentment is an important one, which does merit further discussion.

Lenovo’s successful acquisition of the IBM PC Division

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 32-35
Author(s):  
Mark Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Chinese Economy ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Tablet Computers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Traditional Manufacturing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze Lenovo’s successful acquisition of IBM’s PC division using Ghemawat’s (2001) CAGE framework. It was an acquisition that was so full of symbols that it is difficult to know where to begin. Lenovo’s purchase of IBM in 2005 was first seen as a sign of the rapid growth and expansion of the Chinese economy and its transformation away from the traditional manufacturing base to more high-tech areas. For doomsday merchants in the land of Uncle Sam, it foretold the end of the world domination of the US economy. Despite a considerable number of skeptics at the time, Lenovo was clearly up to the task. Such was the success of the acquisition that by 2015, Lenovo could claim to have grown into the world’s number 1 PC maker, number 3 smartphone manufacturer and number 3 in the production of tablet computers. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a case study. Findings Despite a considerable number of skeptics at the time, Lenovo was clearly up to the task. Such was the success of the acquisition that by 2015, Lenovo could claim to have grown into the world’s number 1 PC maker, number 3 smartphone manufacturer and number 3 in the production of tablet computers. Indeed, by 2014, the firm had enough confidence to add the IBM server business to its portfolio. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Examining the relationship between the psychological contract and organisational commitment

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fauzia Jabeen ◽  
Mohamed Behery ◽  
Hossam Abu Elanain
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Transactional Leadership ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Organisational Commitment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the psychological contract, relational psychological contract and transactional psychological contract on organisational commitment as mediated by transactional leadership in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) context. The paper also explores the contractual status to determine if the theory remains valid, regardless of the fact whether one is employed as a contingent or permanent worker. Design/methodology/approach – This research made a longitudinal study spanning a 24-week time period. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire prepared in English and Arabic, at three stages representing three visits to the participating companies in the UAE. Pearson’s correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to examine the research hypotheses. Findings – The results show that the psychological contracts (transactional and relational) are positively related to transactional leadership. This study categorizes several consequential relationships between transactional leadership and organisational commitment. It also advocates that transactional leadership has only a fractional mediating role in relation to relational psychological contract, transactional psychological contract and organisational commitment. Practical implications – The findings suggest that practitioners and academics alike should note that the nature of the psychological contract employed will impact upon commitment and retention. Originality/value – This study makes a significant contribution to the body of literature, being the second part of a longitudinal study that aimed at testing the mediating effect of transactional leadership on organisational commitment within the context of the UAE. In the earlier study, the intent was to analyse the role of transformational leadership as a mediator between the psychological contract and organisational commitment. Typically, transformational leadership has been found to partially mediate the above mentioned relationships. In addition, it also advocates that there may be some value in considering the employees’ contractual status with regard to the psychological contract and its impact on organisational commitment.

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