Managing technology innovation paradoxes through multi-level ambidexterity capabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1503-1520
Author(s):  
Taohua Ouyang ◽  
Xin Cao ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Sixuan Zhang

PurposeIn this study, the authors aim to address the following two research questions: (1) How do technology innovation paradoxes manifest themselves in technological changes? (2) How do incumbent firms manage technology innovation paradoxes through multi-level organizational ambidexterity? To do so, the authors examine technology innovation in cloud computing, which has taken shape and brought about changes to the information technology industry. Specifically, the authors examine how a traditional software company, China Standard Software Co., Ltd. (CS2C), successfully navigated the technological transition to cloud computing from its existing operating systems business by managing innovation paradoxes through multi-level ambidexterity capabilities.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines a single exploratory case and conducts an in-depth analysis of how technology innovation paradoxes manifest themselves in technological changes and how incumbent firms manage technology innovation paradoxes through multi-level organizational ambidexterity. The data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously through three phases. In Phase 1, one of the authors who had worked at CS2C for many years enabled the authors to obtain access to the company. The data analysis during this phase provided the authors with the history and current situation of CS2C, enabling them to understand the external circumstances, such as particular historical period, and internal conditions, such as cultural and technological changes, that would be relevant throughout the course of their study. It also helped the authors identify organizational ambidexterity capability as the guiding theoretical concept for their research. In Phase 2, the authors engaged in site visits and conducted detailed interviews with employees working at CS2C. In Phase 3, most of the data analysis was conducted. When the interview data were not sufficient to support the theoretical analysis, additional data were collected via phone calls and emails, to assure data-theory-model alignment.FindingsThe authors’ findings show that technology innovation paradoxes manifest themselves as contradictory relationships and mutual support relationships between exploitative and exploratory innovation. In addition, the authors identify three integration mechanisms as key to multi-level organizational ambidexterity capabilities in managing technology innovation paradoxes in technological changes.Originality/valueThree important theoretical implications can be drawn from our case analysis. First, this research contributes to the knowledge of innovation paradoxes during technological changes. Second, this research provides a model of multi-level organizational ambidexterity capability in technological changes. Third, this research proposes three integration mechanisms driven by three types of ambidexterity capability at different organizational levels.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dengdeng Wanyan ◽  
Tong Shang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the significant advantages of cloud technology in digital cultural heritage construction by analyzing public culture cloud platforms in China. The authors hope to provide references for other countries and regions on the applications of cloud computing techniques in digital cultural construction. Design/methodology/approach The primary research methods involved interview and case analysis. A comprehensive understanding of cloud technology and China’s culture cloud platforms were gained through research into extensive amounts of literature. Analyzing 21 culture cloud platforms offers a general understanding of culture clouds, while the Hunan Public Culture Cloud acts as a representative sample that gives detailed insight. Findings This paper explores the considerable advantages of cloud computing in digital cultural construction from four aspects: integration of decentralized heterogeneous resources, coordination and cooperation, accurately matching user needs and promotion of balanced service development. Originality/value Existing studies fall short of comprehensive investigations of culture cloud platforms and in-depth analysis of the advantages of cloud technology applications. This paper uses the construction of public culture cloud platforms in China as the research object. Further, this paper compares the construction status of different culture cloud platforms.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahak Sharma ◽  
Ruchita Gupta ◽  
Padmanav Acharya

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to presents an analysis of geographically and disciplinary scattered academic publications of cloud computing (CC) research in information systems. This review aims to understand the research methodology, research frameworks and models, geographical distribution, trends, critical factors and causal relationships associated with cloud computing adoption (CCA). Design/methodology/approach Systematic-literature-review using natural language processing is conducted to explore the phenomenon. The relevant research studies are extracted from various online databases using quality-assessment-criteria. Findings The study is a novel attempt to highlight the differences in critical factors for CCA in different country-settings. Further, the research explores the causal relationships among the identified factors. The findings of this 12-year systematic-review contribute by aiding the providers and potential adopters to devise context-specific strategies for the penetration of cloud services and sound adoption decisions (ADs), respectively. The findings also highlight the prospective avenues of research in the domain for researchers. Using the in-depth analysis, conceptual frameworks have been proposed that can assist in exploring the pre-adoption and post-adoption of CC. Originality/value This study contributes to CCA research by providing holistic insights into the methodology, research framework and models, geographical focus, critical factors and causal relationships influencing the AD or intention. The review highlights the unexplored emerging research topics in the field of CCA for future research directions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisardo Prieto González ◽  
Corvin Jaedicke ◽  
Johannes Schubert ◽  
Vladimir Stantchev

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze how embedding of self-powered wireless sensors into cloud computing further enables such a system to become a sustainable part of work environment. Design/methodology/approach This is exemplified by an application scenario in healthcare that was developed in the context of the OpSIT project in Germany. A clearly outlined three-layer architecture, in the sense of Internet of Things, is presented. It provides the basis for integrating a broad range of sensors into smart healthcare infrastructure. More specifically, by making use of short-range communication sensors (sensing layer), gateways which implement data transmission and low-level computation (fog layer) and cloud computing for processing the data (application layer). Findings A technical in-depth analysis of the first two layers of the infrastructure is given to prove reliability and to determine the communication quality and availability in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, two example use-cases that directly apply to a healthcare environment are examined, concluding with the feasibility of the presented approach. Practical implications Finally, the next research steps, oriented towards the semantic tagging and classification of data received from sensors, and the usage of advanced artificial intelligence-based algorithms on this information to produce useful knowledge, are described together with the derived social benefits. Originality/value The work presents an innovative, extensible and scalable system, proven to be useful in healthcare environments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 554-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vincenza Ciasullo ◽  
Orlando Troisi ◽  
Francesca Loia ◽  
Gennaro Maione

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the reasons why people use or do not use carpooling. A further aim is to collect and analyze empirical evidence concerning the advantages and disadvantages of carpooling. Design/methodology/approach A large-scale text analytics study has been conducted: the collection of the peoples’ opinions have been realized on Twitter by means of a dedicated web crawler, named “Twitter4J.” After their mining, the collected data have been treated through a sentiment analysis realized by means of “SentiWordNet.” Findings The big data analysis identified the 12 most frequently used concepts about carpooling by Twitter’s users: seven advantages (economic efficiency, environmental efficiency, comfort, traffic, socialization, reliability, curiosity) and five disadvantages (lack of effectiveness, lack of flexibility, lack of privacy, danger, lack of trust). Research limitations/implications Although the sample is particularly large (10 percent of the data flow published on Twitter from all over the world in about one year), the automated collection of people’s comments has prevented a more in-depth analysis of users’ thoughts and opinions. Practical implications The research findings may direct entrepreneurs, managers and policy makers to understand the variables to be leveraged and the actions to be taken to take advantage of the potential benefits that carpooling offers. Originality/value The work has utilized skills from three different areas, i.e., business management, computing science and statistics, which have been synergistically integrated for customizing, implementing and using two IT tools capable of automatically identifying, selecting, collecting, categorizing and analyzing people’s tweets about carpooling.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Racine ◽  
Yixi Lu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the experiences of multiple forced migrations and resettlement among two refugee families in a mid-sized Canadian city. Design/methodology/approach – Case studies are located within the contingencies of the participants’ lives and the meanings they provide to the events. A postcolonial feminist perspective guided the data analysis to explore the micro-level of individual experiences that unfold within a raced, gendered, and classed reality. Open-ended interviews, participant observation, and field notes were used to collect participants’ perspectives. Data were collected until saturation occurred. Findings – An in-depth analysis of these two case studies revealed that lack of choice and lack of access to health and social services affect health through constant revival of traumatic past experiences prior to arrival to Canada. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: first, shared experiences of forced migrations; second, the past and present: construction of new identities; and third, resettlement challenges and opportunities. These themes overlap and intersect to shape the experiences of double forced migration. Research limitations/implications – This research has limitations related to the sample size but provides data on a topic that deserves more attention in the field of immigrant and health studies. The authors argue that health and social professionals must resist “finalizing” refugees into disempowered identities that undermine human agency. Originality/value – Research on resettlement experiences after forced migration is a burgeoning field in refugee studies. The originality lies in drawing on Bahktin to develop practical implications to guide health and social practice in this area marked by racialization and fundamentalism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell J. Seidle

Purpose This paper aims to examine how distinct sequences of organizational learning types (experiential and vicarious) underpin processes of exploratory versus exploitative innovation. Design/methodology/approach Data collection consists of 16 interviews conducted with senior personnel at two firms in the biopharmaceutical sector, with sequences of organizational learning types derived from the associated innovation projects. These sequences and their differential emphases on experiential or vicarious learning are used to construct a conceptual model. Propositions describe the structural differentiation and integration mechanisms useful to foster organizational ambidexterity. Findings Technological brokering emerges as a key means by which organizations can reconcile the learning sequences underlying exploration and exploitation. For exploration, a structure incorporating cross-industry technology brokerage during the initiation and development phases of innovation is posited. For exploitation, a structure harnessing intra-industry technology brokerage during the development phase of innovation is suggested. Integration of these projects can be accomplished through cross-unit interfaces incorporating both types of brokerage roles, with emphasis on their use during implementation. Originality/value This paper considers the ways in which organizations focus on separate types of organizational learning at different stages of the innovation process. Insights are provided into how firms mobilize internal and external knowledge to advance these projects independently, as well as to link these efforts and thereby facilitate ambidexterity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Payam Hanafizadeh ◽  
Ahad Zare Ravasan

Purpose A multitude of factors influence the information technology outsourcing (ITO) decision. Organizations must systematically evaluate these factors prior to making the ITO decision. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis toward understanding the critical factors in affecting ITO decision in the context of e-banking services. Design/methodology/approach The effect of technological, organizational, and environmental attributes on e-banking services outsourcing decision were investigated in this paper. The study was carried out using the quantitative research methodology based on a survey of 23 banks. The partial least squares technique was utilized as the method of data analysis. Findings The results of the data analysis illustrated that nine out of 11 assumed factors (i.e. perceived complexity, perceived cost, service observability to the client, cultural fit between client and supplier, perceived loss of organizational knowledge, prior outsourcing experience, external pressure, market volatility, and suppliers’ power) influence the outsourcing decision of e-banking services. The findings also confirmed that the nature of the service and client IT capabilities did not exert any influence on the outsourcing decision. Originality/value The study is among the first kind of ITO decision research which empirically investigates the effect of service observability, cultural fit, perceived loss of organizational knowledge, external pressure, market volatility, and suppliers’ power amongst other factors on the ITO decision. The findings from this study provide insights for the banks and service providers to better understand the factors affecting the outsourcing decisions of e-banking services in contexts of less developed countries. Implications based on a specific situation of the Iranian banking sector is also proposed.


Author(s):  
Ali Safari ◽  
Arash Adelpanah ◽  
Razieh Soleimani ◽  
Parisa Heidari Aqagoli ◽  
Rosa Eidizadeh ◽  
...  

Purpose This study aims at investigating the effect of psychological empowerment on job burnout and competitive advantage with the mediating role of organizational commitment and creativity. Design/methodology/approach The statistical population included all the managers and staffs of Tooka Company in Iran, and for data analysis, 120 completed questionnaires were used. Data analysis was carried out by SPSS 18 and Amos 20 software and structural equation modeling method. To test the mediating relationships, bootstrap method was used. Findings The findings showed that psychological empowerment has a significant direct effect on job burnout and competitive advantage. Also, psychological empowerment has a significant indirect effect on job burnout through the mediating role of organizational commitment. In addition, psychological empowerment has a significant indirect effect on competitive advantage through the mediating role of organizational creativity. Originality/value This study is among the first to investigate the relationship between psychological empowerment, job burnout, competitive advantage, organizational commitment and creativity.


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