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Article
Publication date: 5 June 2017

Joseph Rubleske and Nicholas Berente

This paper aims at advancing a pragmatist perspective on entrepreneurial opportunities as an alternative to the traditional and predominant constructivist and objectivist…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims at advancing a pragmatist perspective on entrepreneurial opportunities as an alternative to the traditional and predominant constructivist and objectivist perspectives. To this end, this paper advances a pragmatist definition of an opportunity and draws from empirical evidence to propose a pragmatist model of opportunity conception and exploitation.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the entrepreneurial opportunity and pragmatism literatures yields a definition of an opportunity as a dynamic and unfolding experience which an entrepreneur conceives as a general market need to exploit it for financial or social gain. Drawing from this definition, and with the aim of developing a pragmatist model of an opportunity, a case study approach is applied to three radically innovative services conceived and developed by three high-performance computing (HPC) centers.

Findings

In each of the three cases, an entrepreneurial HPC center conceived a new, general market need (opportunity) and then acted to exploit it. Through its action, the HPC center learned something that enabled it to address barriers, develop an improvement or otherwise reconceive the opportunity. In turn, the HPC center learned more about and advanced the opportunity, and then acted again. After launching a new service based on the opportunity, the opportunity continued to evolve in response to the HPC center’s efforts and to market forces.

Research limitations/implications

The pragmatist perspective and model of an opportunity can serve as a foundation for future pragmatist research into entrepreneurship and innovation. To this end, future studies could extend the model by examining in greater detail the acting-learning-reconceiving cycle, by exploring how an opportunity evolves and is reconceived after market launch and/or by investigating opportunity conception and exploitation within other types of markets.

Practical implications

From a pragmatist perspective, an opportunity is not some discrete object to be discovered. It is emergent and dynamic, and to the extent that it is “created”, it is never complete or finalized. It is experienced by the entrepreneur, and it continues to evolve, even after it has been launched as a new good or service.

Originality/value

The paper proposes novel value by advancing a pragmatist perspective on entrepreneurial opportunities. Such a perspective is an alternative to the constructivist and objectivist perspectives that have framed research into opportunities. The paper also proposes novel value by drawing from case study findings to propose a pragmatist model of opportunity conception and exploitation.

Details

International Journal of Innovation Science, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-2223

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 April 2023

Pavel Král, Věra Králová and Petr Šimáček

Most studies on workplace meetings have examined them as physical gatherings but have not linked them to interactions before and after meetings. Drawing upon coordination theory…

2076

Abstract

Purpose

Most studies on workplace meetings have examined them as physical gatherings but have not linked them to interactions before and after meetings. Drawing upon coordination theory, this study aims to examine the impact of interactions before, during and after meetings on meeting effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey design was used, and regular workplace meeting attendees were recruited. A mediation model was developed to test the effect of interactions on perceived meeting effectiveness.

Findings

Interactions before meetings positively influenced attendee involvement during the meeting, and attendee involvement mediated the positive relationship between attendee interactions during the meeting and perceived meeting effectiveness. A novel finding of this study is that incorporating meeting outcomes in subsequent work positively influenced perceived meeting effectiveness because it fostered common understanding of the meeting agenda.

Originality/value

The present results link prior empirical findings on interactions before and during meetings to new predictions regarding the effect of interactions after meetings. Coordination theory expands current conceptualizations of workplace meetings by broadening the notion of meetings to cover a more extended period of interdependent interactions.

Details

Measuring Business Excellence, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-3047

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 May 2022

Giacomo Cabri and Guido Fioretti

This article aims to provide a theoretical unifying framework for flexible organizational forms, such as so-called adhocracies and network organizations.

3304

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to provide a theoretical unifying framework for flexible organizational forms, such as so-called adhocracies and network organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

In this article, organization practices that are typical of the software industry are analyzed and re-interpreted by means of foundational concepts of organization science. It is shown that one and the same logic is at work in all flexible organizations.

Findings

Coordination modes can be fruitfully employed to characterize flexible organizations. In particular, standardization is key in order to obtain flexibility, provided that a novel sort of coordination by standardization is added to those that have been conceptualized hitherto.

Research limitations/implications

This article highlights one necessary condition for organizations to be flexible. Further aspects, only cursorily mentioned in this paper, need to be addressed in order to obtain a complete picture.

Practical implications

A theory of organizational flexibility constitutes a guide for organizational design. This article suggests the non-obvious prescription that the boundary conditions of individual behavior must be standardized in order to achieve operational flexibility.

Social implications

This theoretical framework can be profitably employed in management classes.

Originality/value

Currently, flexible organizations are only understood in terms of lists of instances. This article shows that apparently heterogeneous case-studies share common features in fact.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 25 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

Keywords

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