Joana Barbosa and Beatriz Casais
Omnichannel implementation in retail requires business transformation and faces several operational barriers. This research discusses how omnichannel has been implemented, in a…
Abstract
Purpose
Omnichannel implementation in retail requires business transformation and faces several operational barriers. This research discusses how omnichannel has been implemented, in a managerial perspective, and how integration of operations has overcome the identified transformative barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors followed a multi-case study approach, with observation and interviews with managers of four big retail companies in Portugal.
Findings
The results suggest that retail companies have overcome the barriers to implement omnichannel models through the integration of information technology (IT), the accomplishment of organisational changes and the optimisation of customer feedback, achieving positive business indicators, namely increased sales.
Research limitations/implications
The conclusions of the paper provide valuable information to help companies to design the process of channel's integration in order to overcome the transformative constraints of omnichannel. However, those conclusions emerge from Portuguese case studies of retail companies, and a generalised discussion should consider the contextual diversity of consumer expectations, cultural user experiences in retail and the maturity of digital transformation and omnichannel implementation stage in each country.
Originality/value
Previous studies had characterised the items of omnichannel retail, fulfilment processes, the benefits of channels' integration in customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty and had identified barriers for its implementation. Considering the existence of different stages of omnichannel implementation, this paper explores how retail companies increment omnichannel operations, overcome transformative barriers and achieve the omnichannel benefits, through the whole involvement of the organisation system, the customer approach and the business model, besides the technology integration.
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Xiong‐hui Cai, Bing An, Feng‐shun Wu and Yi‐ping Wu
The purpose of this paper is to accomplish the low cost mass‐production of flexible radio frequency identification (RFID) tag inlays.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to accomplish the low cost mass‐production of flexible radio frequency identification (RFID) tag inlays.
Design/methodology/approach
An anisotropic conductive paste (ACP) is prepared by mixing uniform micro‐sized spherical conductive particles, latent curing agent and other additives into a thermoset epoxy resin. RFID tag inlays are assembled with the paste through flip‐chip technology. The microstructural analysis of bonded joints, bond strength testing, and high‐temperature and humidity aging testing are employed to evaluate the performance of the inlays.
Findings
It was found that the chips are hard assembled on the antennae by the ACP. Flexible RFID tag inlays assembled using the presented method have good reliability when working under high frequency (13.56 MHz) conditions.
Research limitations/implications
The method presented is a promising new way for packaging flexible RFID tag inlays with ACP. Through the use of flip‐chip technology, large‐scale production is possible with low manufacturing costs.
Originality/value
The paper details a simple way to prepare an anisotropic conductive paste and to assemble flexible RFID tag inlays. The technique uses flip‐chip technology with the paste as the electrical and mechanical interconnection material. It presents a simple and fast method of assembly for flexible RFID tag inlays on a large‐scale with low cost.
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Sinead Mellett, Felicity Kelliher and Denis Harrington
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate key criteria underpinning network-facilitated green innovation capability development in micro-firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate key criteria underpinning network-facilitated green innovation capability development in micro-firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Micro-firms, those firms with less than ten full-time employees, need to continuously innovate in order to sustain their business in the emerging green economy. This study uses an interpretive multiple case approach to explore micro-firm owner-manager (O/M) green innovation activities, encompassing O/M views on facilitated network engagement in Ireland and Canada over a 12-month period.
Findings
The findings show that proactive implementation of green innovation is influenced by the O/M’s natural environment orientation and the potential for economic gain, while facilitated networks provide an additional resource that the O/M can draw from that allows the O/M to test new ideas, comprehend new and existing legislation and identify potential supports in pursuit of green innovation capability development within the micro-firm.
Research limitations/implications
This study offers a contribution to knowledge in the areas of green innovation, micro-firm capabilities and facilitated network engagement. However, the sample size is small and distance was a challenge, yet data and case protocols are in place which allow for replication of the study. As the research is embedded in the resource and capability theories, alternative theoretical frameworks may shed a different light on the research question.
Originality/value
Prior studies have found that facilitated networks have a positive impact on micro-firm sustainability as these networks enhance the firm’s constrained resource base. The proposed framework can be used as a guideline for support organisations including facilitated networks in assisting micro-firms in reaching their green innovation goals and objectives. It can also be used by micro-firms in the attainment of the green innovation capability.
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Literature on strategic alliances (SAs) is large, diverse and growing. It needs synthesis and analysis for application and further research. Authors have also underlined the need…
Abstract
Purpose
Literature on strategic alliances (SAs) is large, diverse and growing. It needs synthesis and analysis for application and further research. Authors have also underlined the need for studies covering differences in structuring, situational application and management of alliances. This systematic literature review aims to cover dyadic, network and ecosystem (DNE) alliances with theory, context, characteristics and methodology (TCCM) methodology covering the life cycle stages of an alliance (pre-formation, formation and management) to uncover insights which inform practice and guide further research on this important subject.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper follows systematic literature review (SLR) methodology for research design and article selection and TCCM methodology for analysis. It also analyses the literature on DNE alliances using a nine-box matrix with DNE alliance forming one axis and three alliance lifecycle stages of pre-formation (alliance objectives), formation (alliance design and operationalisation) and post formation (alliance management) stages along the other axis.
Findings
Analysis indicates focus on individual firms and their own customer value proposition (CVP) in the dyadic and network alliances. Industries with fast-paced technological change benefit from loosely coupled alliances. Social context and social exchanges leading to collaboration and collective strengths mark network alliances, with a focus on knowledge creation and dissemination. Ecosystems focus on a collective CVP, which guides alliance behaviour. Ecosystem leadership guides this purpose through governance for sustained competitiveness. Negative consequences (dark side) of alliances can be mitigated by careful design, formation and management of DNE alliances.
Research limitations/implications
While literature has focussed on static view of alliances in their industry or social context, this literature review analyses alliances along the dyadic, network and ecosystem typology, thus providing a new lens to study alliances. The review also recognises that alliances evolve over their life-cycle stages and observes their progression through their lifecycle stages aids for fuller comprehension of their behaviour. Areas for future research in structuring, leadership, value co-creation and technological change set an agenda for future research.
Practical implications
Dynamic managerial capabilities are drivers of alliance performance. The analysis using the nine-box matrix allows managers to better appreciate the options that exist and the consequences of their actions. Situating their alliance in the appropriate box can allow managers better plan, operationalise and manage their own alliances.
Originality/value
This systematic review compares and contrasts DNE alliances in extant literature and through their lifecycle stages. Insights from TCCM analysis and the nine-box matrix provide unique contribution to both theory and practice in this large and growing domain.
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Two members of ISHM‐Hungary, Professor Zsolt Illyefalvi‐Vitéz, ELC representative, and Professor Gábor Harsányi, president and TPC representative, attended the NATO Advanced…
Abstract
Two members of ISHM‐Hungary, Professor Zsolt Illyefalvi‐Vitéz, ELC representative, and Professor Gábor Harsányi, president and TPC representative, attended the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on MCM‐C/Mixed Technologies in Florida, USA, in May co‐sponsored by ISHM‐US and organised by:
Ildikó Asztalos Morell and Bettina B. Bock
This volume looks at the construction of gendered citizenship in different rural contexts: under different welfare and gender regimes, and different rural and agricultural…
Abstract
This volume looks at the construction of gendered citizenship in different rural contexts: under different welfare and gender regimes, and different rural and agricultural conditions. Through applying the concepts of the welfare state and gender regimes within rural research, this book contributes to the further development of a comparative theoretical framework for rural gender studies. The importance of integrating rural gender studies into both the mainstreams of rural and feminist research has been emphasized in previous volumes, as has that of developing comparative analytical frameworks (Whatmore, Marsden, & Lowe, 1994, p. 2; Brandth, 2002; Shortall, 2006). The conceptual framework adopted in this volume sets out to meet this challenge by approaching rural gender relations as the meeting point of two core research areas: feminist research into gender regime studies and research on rural transformative processes. Research into gender regimes offers a promising analytical framework for comparing gender relations in diverse rural settings. By formulating gender relations in terms of citizenship rights, this approach elevates the concerns of rural gender relations to broader discourses located at the nation state level (Werbner & Yuval-Davis, 1999; Asztalos Morell, 1999a). The evolution of citizenship rights at the nation state level has created hegemonic frameworks that are able to influence and transform rural gender relations. At the same time, by addressing rural concerns, deriving from the specificity of rural transition processes and gender regimes, the approach also contributes to an elucidation of the complexity of citizenship. In accordance to current debates emphasizing the embedded nature of gender relations with other social forces of differentiation, such as age, class and ethnicity (Walby, 1997; Hobson & Lister, 2002) we aimed to elucidate how gendered citizenship is constituted in the rural context.
Yunqi Chen, Yusen Xu and Qingguo Zhai
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the knowledge management functions of corporate universities and their evolution.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the knowledge management functions of corporate universities and their evolution.
Design/methodology/approach
Two Chinese corporate universities in the ICT industry were selected for the case studies. Data were collected by interviews and consulting the documents of the two corporate universities. Grounded theory was used for data analysis.
Findings
The research found that the knowledge management functions of the corporate universities encompass knowledge transfer, knowledge creation and knowledge services for intrapreneurship. The knowledge management functions of the corporate universities are enhancing with the development of the corporate universities. The knowledge management functions mutually reinforce each other. The knowledge network of the corporate universities is expanding and the scope of knowledge managed is broadening.
Practical implications
Companies should make full use of corporate universities in facilitating knowledge transfer, knowledge creation and knowledge services for intrapreneurship.
Originality/value
Analyzing the knowledge management functions of corporate universities and their evolution from the perspective of knowledge network enriches research on knowledge management of corporate universities.
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Helena Rusanen, Aino Halinen and Elina Jaakkola
This paper aims to explore how companies access resources through network relationships when developing service innovations. The paper identifies the types of resource that…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how companies access resources through network relationships when developing service innovations. The paper identifies the types of resource that companies seek from other actors and examines the nature of relationships and resource access strategies that can be applied to access each type of resource.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal, multi-case study is conducted in the field of technical business-to-business (b-to-b) services. An abductive research strategy is applied to create a new theoretical understanding of resource access.
Findings
Companies seek a range of resources through different types of network relationships for service innovation. Four types of resource access strategies were identified: absorption, acquisition, sharing, and co-creation. The findings show how easily transferable resources can be accessed through weak relationships and low-intensity collaboration. Access to resources that are difficult to transfer, instead, necessitates strong relationships and high-intensity collaboration.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are valid for technical b-to-b services, but should also be tested for other kinds of innovations. Future research should also study how actors integrate the resources gained through networks in the innovation process.
Practical implications
Managers should note that key resources for service innovation may be accessible through a variety of actors and relationships ranging from formal arrangements to miscellaneous social contacts. To make use of tacit resources such as knowledge, firms need to engage in intensive collaboration.
Originality/value
Despite attention paid to network relationships, innovation collaboration, and external resources, previous research has neither linked these issues nor studied their mutual contingencies. This paper provides a theoretical model that characterizes the service innovation resources accessible through different types of relationships and access strategies.
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This article explores whether six broad categories of activities undertaken by Canadian business scholars’ academics: publications record, citations record, teaching load…
Abstract
Purpose
This article explores whether six broad categories of activities undertaken by Canadian business scholars’ academics: publications record, citations record, teaching load, administrative load, consulting activities, and knowledge spillovers transfer, are complementary, substitute, or independent, as well as the conditions under which complementarities, substitution and independence among these activities are likely to occur.
Design/methodology/approach
A multivariate probit model is estimated to take into account that business scholars have to consider simultaneously whether or not to undertake many different academic activities. Metrics from Google Scholar of scholars from 35 Canadian business schools, augmented by a survey data on factors explaining the productivity and impact performances of these faculty members, are used to explain the heterogeneities between the determinants of these activities.
Findings
Overall, the results reveal that there are complementarities between publications and citations, publications and knowledge spillovers transfer, citations and consulting, and between consulting and knowledge spillovers transfer. The results also suggest that there are substitution effects between publications and teaching, publications and administrative load, citations and teaching load, and teaching load and administrative load. Moreover, results show that public and private funding, business schools’ reputation, scholar’s relational resources, and business school size are among the most influential variables on the scholar’s portfolio of activities.
Originality/value
This study considers simultaneously the scholar’s whole portfolio of activities. Moreover, the determinants considered in this study to explain scholars’ engagement in different activities reconcile two conflicting perspectives: (1) the traditional self-managed approach of academics, and (2) the outcomes-focused approach of university management.