BREATHING SHOES AND COMPLEMENTARITIES: STRATEGIC INNOVATION IN A MATURE INDUSTRY

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 139-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARNALDO CAMUFFO ◽  
ANDREA FURLAN ◽  
PIETRO ROMANO ◽  
ANDREA VINELLI

This paper tells the story of Geox, an Italian footwear manufacturer that, in less than a decade, has become one of the world's largest shoe manufacturers. Applying the related notions of complementarity and performance landscape to study strategic positioning in the footwear industry, we show that, though grounded on product innovation (the original Geox breathes® patented system which allows ventilation in waterproof rubber sole), Geox's competitive advantage has not grown out of operational excellence in single activities in the business, but, rather, derives from a unique and consistent configuration of complementary activities. Such configuration represents an innovative strategic position and corresponds to a peak in the footwear industry performance landscape. The case study offers anecdotal evidence in support of complementarity based economic theory. It confirms that, in the presence of complementarities, rivals find strategy imitation and reverse engineering difficult due to the unique nature of the relationships among complementary variables.

Author(s):  
Naomi HERTZ

Intensive manual labor enterprises in the developed world face challenges competing with products imported from countries where manufacturing costs are low. This reduces the volume of domestic production and leads to rapid loss of knowledge and experience in production processes. This study focuses on the Israeli footwear industry as a case study. Qualitative methodologies were applied, including in-depth interviews and field observations. A literature review on previous research, and contemporary trends was conducted. The field research examines challenges along the value chain in small factories. It finds that mass production paradigms impose a decentralized process between designers and manufacturers and therefore do not leverage local potential into a sustainable competitive advantage for small factories. The proposed solution is a digital and technological platform for small manufacturing plants. The platform mediates and designs the connections between production, technology, and design and enables the creation of a joint R&D system.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Norol Hamiza Zamzuri ◽  
Khairil Wahidin Awang ◽  
Yuhanis Abdul Aziz ◽  
Zaiton Samdin

The growth of the event sector is underpinned by the demand of organizing a business event.  Thus, it leads to an increase in economic and social impact. However, the problems from the growth of this sector potentially results from the use of several event materials, transportation and infrastructure development.  Organizing a green event is seen as one of the strategies to reduce the environmental impact.  Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the issues involved throughout the process of greening an event by applying Mair and Jago Model.  Semi-structured interviews were conducted with event managers from six Malaysia business event companies that encourage green practices during their event.  Findings suggest that impact, initiative, support and performance motivates event organizers in organizing a green event.  It has also been found that knowledge, resources and behaviour are the barriers faced by event organizers throughout the process of organizing a green event.  Based on the findings it appears that two important factors have emerged from the data collection and analysis that showed a deviation from the Mair and Jago Model, namely “impact” for the motivation element and “support” for the barrier element.  The main limitation of this study was the scope of the study; as it only focuses on business events.  However, as the main purpose of this study is to explore the issues of organizing a green event, it has been found that there are other issues need to be explored in other contexts and geographical area.  Apart from this, as this is a case study, it can only replicate according to the circumstances of this case study. However, this study can be generalized in terms of the theory that has emerged from it.  It is suggested that further research should explore more issues in other contexts and geographical areas. 


Author(s):  
Frederick Farai Muchena ◽  
Osaro Aigbogun

This study evaluates the extent to which product, technology, service, and process innovations influence the sustainability of Healthcare service businesses. The context of the study is Premier Service Medical Investments (PSMI) Limited, Zimbabwe. A quantitative research, with a deductive approach was conducted using a self-administered structured questionnaire which was anchored on a 7-point Likert scale for gathering survey primary data. A purposively recruited sample of 350 employees with leadership responsibilities, were drawn from executive, middle management and supervisory levels. After testing and validating the reliability and validity of the questionnaire measures, a logistic regression was run to test the research hypotheses. The results reveal the following: Service Innovation had a positive relationship with Sustainability, indicating that a unit increase in Service Innovation has an effect of a 256% increase in odds of Sustainability. Product Innovation had a negative relationship with Sustainability, indicating that a unit increase in Product Innovation has an effect of a 13% decrease in odds of Sustainability. Technology Innovation had a positive relationship with Sustainability, indicating that a unit increase in Technology Innovation has an effect of a 25% increase in odds of Sustainability. Process Innovation had a positive relationship with Sustainability, indicating that a unit increase in Process Innovation has an effect of a 117% increase in odds of Sustainability. Moreover, using the linear regression method, the variable Service Innovation indicated that with an additional service, Sustainability increases by 27.1%. Technology Innovation showed that with an additional technology, sustainability increases by 4.3%. Process Innovation indicated that with an additional process, Sustainability increases by 36.6%. From the results, using the both the logistic and linear regression models, the findings indicate that strategic innovation significantly influences sustainability of healthcare services business in Zimbabwe. Arising from this research, sustainability of healthcare care business is seen to be triggered and driven by all 4 types of innovation evaluated in this research, namely: service, process, product and technology. It is recommended that these innovation dimensions be implemented within a defined internal environment supported by an innovation hub. Keywords: Sustainability, Strategic Innovation, Logistic Regression, Linear Regression, Process Innovation, Service Innovation, Product Innovation, Technology Innovation


Author(s):  
A. Paulsen ◽  
H. Dumlu ◽  
D. Piorunek ◽  
D. Langenkämper ◽  
J. Frenzel ◽  
...  

AbstractTi75Ta25 high-temperature shape memory alloys exhibit a number of features which make it difficult to use them as spring actuators. These include the high melting point of Ta (close to 3000 °C), the affinity of Ti to oxygen which leads to the formation of brittle α-case layers and the tendency to precipitate the ω-phase, which suppresses the martensitic transformation. The present work represents a case study which shows how one can overcome these issues and manufacture high quality Ti75Ta25 tensile spring actuators. The work focusses on processing (arc melting, arc welding, wire drawing, surface treatments and actuator spring geometry setting) and on cyclic actuator testing. It is shown how one can minimize the detrimental effect of ω-phase formation and ensure stable high-temperature actuation by fast heating and cooling and by intermediate rejuvenation anneals. The results are discussed on the basis of fundamental Ti–Ta metallurgy and in the light of Ni–Ti spring actuator performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 303-318
Author(s):  
Maarten Baele ◽  
An Vermeulen ◽  
Dimitri Adons ◽  
Roos Peeters ◽  
Angelique Vandemoortele ◽  
...  

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