The Pransky interview: Jack Morrison, CEO and Co-Founder, Scythe Robotics

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding his pioneering efforts in starting robotic companies and commercializing technological inventions. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Jack Morrison, CEO and Co-Founder, Scythe Robotics. Morrison shares how he and his co-founders started this innovative company, the milestones and challenges he’s faced and his long-term goals. Findings Morrison received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Computer Science and German from Bowdoin College. He attended The George Washington University as a PhD student in Computer Science but left to co-found Replica Labs, a producer of software that turns any mobile phone into a high-quality 3D scanner. Morrison served as Replica’s CTO until it was acquired by Occipital in 2016, where he stayed on as a computer vision engineer until co-founding Scythe Robotics in April 2018. Originality/value While mowing his lawn in Colorado, Jack Morrison had a sudden insight: what if he could apply the latest robotics technology he was so familiar with to the challenge of commercialized landscaping? In 2018, Morrison teamed up with Replica Labs co-founder Isaac Roberts and Occipital’s Davis Foster, to create Scythe Robotics, a company that builds autonomous robotics solutions for the $105bn commercial landscaping industry. In June 2021, Scythe Robotics emerged from stealth with over $18m in funding with its first commercial product: a transformational, all-electric, fully autonomous mower designed to keep crew productivity high while also increasing the quality of cut and worker safety. The machine features eight high dynamic range cameras and a suite of other sensors that enable it to operate safely in dynamic environments by identifying and responding to the presence of humans, animals and other potential obstacles. Simultaneously, the machine captures valuable property and mower performance data, which helps landscape contractors improve workflow, identify upsell opportunities, schedule more efficiently and manage labor costs. The all-electric powertrain is quiet, emissions-free and radically more reliable than gas-powered manual mowers. Scythe Robotics’ business model is based on Robot as a Service. Instead of buying machines outright, customers are billed by acres mowed. This massively reduces contractors’ expenses and eliminates substantial costs. Scythe Robotics is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and has offices in Vero Beach, FL and Austin, TX. Scythe is the recipient of the 2020 ALCC (Associated Landscape Contractors CO) Innovation Winner and the 2021 Colorado OEDIT Advanced Industries Grantee.

Case study: Central States Manufacturing, Inc

PurposeThis case study examines employee share ownership at Central States Manufacturing, where the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) shares stunning sums of wealth with employees. Central States designs its ESOP to allow participants to access a portion of their ownership wealth while they are still employed at the company, through hardship and in-service withdrawals. This may make the “wealth benefit” of employee ownership more meaningful to lower-wage workers navigating economic challenges. The case study adds to the discussion about how employee ownership can benefit low- and moderate-wage workers and close the wealth gap.Design/methodology/approachData were collected via: (1) published accounts, (2) structured qualitative interview with the chief financial officer (CFO), (3) follow-up emails and phone communication with company contact and (4) review of plan document language.FindingsWorkers at Central States Manufacturing – including truck drivers and production workers – build large sums of wealth through the ESOP. Central States innovates in its ESOP by permitting workers to access a portion of their ownership wealth while they are still working through hardship and service withdrawals.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a mini-case study heavily reliant on the information provided by the CFO, in combination with background publications, and plan document language. It does not include employee interviews.Originality/valueThis paper lifts up an innovative company whose success and innovative ESOP plan design benefit frontline workers.

ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT OF A HIGH-TECH COMPANY USING PLANNING AND A PROJECT-PROCESS APPROACH

The task of organizing the economic management of an innovative company, which field of activity is related to high-tech business, is studied. A system of economic management is proposed, which is based on the function of planning the company's operational activities and a project-process approach to regulating the company's microeconomic indicators. The indicators characterize the effectiveness of the implementation of business projects and business processes, jointly controlled in the internal environment of the company and recalculated into the integral economic performance of the company. The controlling function is assigned to smart contracts that track the fulfillment of the company's contractual obligations to consumers. The management subjects in the system are defined as managers of various levels of the hierarchy who are influenced by productivity challenges. The company as an object of economic management in the system is subject to the influence of market challenges. The control system is built according to a closed circuit that adaptively responds to external and internal calls through local and global feedbacks.

City and Industry: How to Cross Borders? Learning From Innovative Company Site Transformations

While working and living coexisted in the historical city, the functions are separated in the Modernist city. Recently, the idea of connected urban districts with short distances and attractive work spaces have received renewed attention from companies and planners alike, as soft site factors, tacit knowledge, and local production are gaining importance. In this article we focus on the development of multi-national company sites and the economic and spatial conditions that encourage them to transform existing sites, improve placemaking, and cross borders. We also have a look at their interactive influence on the neighbourhood. We talked to the real estate managers of BASF, BMW, Bosch, Siemens, and Trumpf about site development strategies and approaches for connecting and mixing functions, and therefore crossing borders and, where it is necessary, separating. The professional discourse on “productive cities” and “urban manufacturing” is concerned with reintegrating production into the city. Reurbanisation is especially instrumental in overcoming a major guiding principle or dogma of the Modernist city: the separation of functions. Nevertheless, reurbanisation results in price rises and increases the competition for land. Therefore, planning has to pay attention to industrial areas, as well as housing or the inner-city. An important thesis of the article is that multi-national companies are pioneers in transforming their priority sites to suit future development. For cities, it is an upcoming communal task to ensure that all existing industrial areas develop into “just, green and productive cities,” as pointed out in the New Leipzig Charter. To a certain extent, it is possible to adapt the urban planning and design strategies of multi-national companies for existing industrial areas. This is especially true regarding the question of how borders and transition zones between industrial areas of companies and the surrounding neighbourhood can be designed to be spatially and functionally sustainable or how they can be transformed to suit future urban needs. However, urban planning has to balance many concerns and therefore the article concludes with a synopsis of the importance of strategic planning for transforming existing industrial areas.

Management Control Systems and Innovation: a levers of control analysis in an innovative company

Purpose Building on the growing body of research that has addressed management control systems and innovation, the purpose of this study is to assess the extent and nature of the use of controls in an innovative setting and how they work together unveiling the relationships and tensions amongst the Simons’ levers. Design/methodology/approach This study resorts to an in-depth and single case study in a company that has both a strong orientation to innovation and stable control practices in place. Evidence was collected from 32 interviews, visits to the company and internal documentation. Findings At the case company, it was possible to find the presence of controls according to all the levers of control. Likewise, joint effects of controls used according to interactive and beliefs approaches and diagnostic and boundary controls showed a consistent reinforcement that push the organization in a single direction. Signs of some countervailing reinforcement between these pairs were also detected, creating tensions. This in general shows that innovation can be weighed against the necessity of goal achievement taking place within fields in which the company can exploit the effort developed. Originality/value This study documents the collective use of controls in a context in which innovation is needed and how the combination of the levers of control with their inner workings and tensions allow the company to have a corporate environment of innovation that is friendly.

The Effects of Patent Extension and Take-Back Regulation on Green Pharmacy

Problem definition: The eco-toxicity arising from unused pharmaceuticals has regulators advocating the benign design concept of “green pharmacy,” but high research and development expenses can be prohibitive. We therefore examine the impacts of two regulatory mechanisms, patent extension and take-back regulation, on inducing drug manufacturers to go green. Academic/practical relevance: One incentive suggested by the European Environmental Agency is a patent extension for a company that redesigns its already patented pharmaceutical to be more environmentally friendly. This incentive can encourage both the development of degradable drugs and the disclosure of technical information. Yet, it is unclear how effective the extension would be in inducing green pharmacy and in maximizing social welfare. Methodology: We develop a game-theoretic model in which an innovative company collects monopoly profits for a patented pharmaceutical but faces competition from a generic rival after the patent expires. A social-welfare-maximizing regulator is the Stackelberg leader. The regulator leads by offering a patent extension to the innovative company while also imposing take-back regulation on the pharmaceutical industry. Then the two-profit maximizing companies respond by setting drug prices and choosing whether to invest in green pharmacy. Results: The regulator’s optimal patent extension offer can induce green pharmacy but only if the offer exceeds a threshold length that depends on the degree of product differentiation present in the pharmaceutical industry. The regulator’s correspondingly optimal take-back regulation generally prescribes a required collection rate that decreases as its optimal patent extension offer increases, and vice versa. Managerial implications: By isolating green pharmacy as a potential target to address pharmaceutical eco-toxicity at its source, the regulatory policy that we consider, which combines the incentive inherent in earning a patent extension on the one hand with the penalty inherent in complying with take-back regulation on the other hand, serves as a useful starting point for policymakers to optimally balance economic welfare considerations with environmental stewardship considerations.

What's cooking?

Karen Hart finds out how Katharine Tate changed career path from being a primary teacher to founding The Food Teacher, an innovative company offering nutrition expertise to nurseries, schools, organisations and families.

Bedeutung der psychologischen Sicherheit für die Innovationsfähigkeit von Organisationen

The future of a company depends to a large extent on whether it can establish market-relevant innovations. In order to develop innovations and thus build sustainable business models, companies should operate their own innovation management. This not only systematically develops innovations, it also creates organizational framework conditions so that an innovative company culture can flourish better. But not only the organizational aspects lead to an increased ability to innovate, it is also the interpersonal interactions that make a decisive contribution. The quality and the result of human interaction depends in a decisive way on how safe people feel in the current group setting. The more confident they feel, the more the group members dare to ask questions, admit weaknesses and mistakes, contribute ideas and question the status quo - the foundations for innovation. If a company wants to develop the basis for psychological safety, then it is important to create suitable conditions in order to be able to make full use of the performance potential of all employees. Freedom, trust and participation are particularly important in innovation in order to promote creativity and the ability to innovate.

TMT leadership ambidexterity: balancing exploration and exploitation behaviors for innovation

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore balanced leadership behaviors, which exhibit ambidexterity, in a top management team (TMT) recognized for innovation and operational success.Design/methodology/approachAn action research case study was conducted in a single global organization in an industry requiring high levels of innovation. Operationalized as a balance of exploratory and exploitative behaviors, leadership ambidexterity was measured using the strategic-operational dimension of the Leadership Versatility Index (LVI©) which when completed included 67 assessments provided by TMT peers, supervisors and direct reports. Using quantitative and qualitative data, we examined the behaviors of six executives and the degree of flexibility they exhibit when switching opposing behaviors.FindingsThis study provides empirical evidence that TMT leaders of a highly innovative company strive to flexibly move between explorative and exploitative behaviors both as individual members and as an executive team. A high degree of exploitation–exploration versatility was also linked to the TMT effective performance.Practical implicationsFor organizational practitioners, the study offers a quantifiable measure of individual and team leadership ambidexterity. It can be used to raise awareness and suggest ambidextrous behaviors to TMT leaders and “high-management-potentials”.Originality/valueThis study measures leadership ambidexterity of individual executives and the TMT as a group using a quantitative instrument supported by 360-degree qualitative data. Access to both secondary and proprietary information allowed in depth examination of the TMT behaviors in an innovative firm, which was acquired at a premium and was recognized with multiple innovation awards.