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1 – 10 of 26Lena Zander, Olivia Kang, Audra I. Mockaitis and Peter Zettinig
Lena Zander, Christina L. Butler, Audra I. Mockaitis, Kendall Herbert, Jakob Lauring, Kristiina Mäkelä, Minna Paunova, Timurs Umans and Peter Zettinig
We propose team-based organizing as an alternative to more traditional forms of hierarchy-based organizing in global firms.
Abstract
Purpose
We propose team-based organizing as an alternative to more traditional forms of hierarchy-based organizing in global firms.
Methodology/approach
Advancements in the study of global teams, leadership, process, and outcomes were organized into four themes: (1) openness toward linguistic and value diversity as enhancing team creativity and performance, (2) knowledge sharing in team-based organizations, (3) the significance of social capital for global team leader role success, and (4) shared leadership, satisfaction, and performance links in global virtual teams.
Findings
We identify questions at three levels for bringing research on team-based organizing in global organizations forward. At the within-team individual level, we discuss the criticality of process and leadership in teams. At the between-teams group level, we draw attention to that global teams also need to focus on relationships and interactions with other teams within the same global firm, for example, when sharing knowledge. With respect to the across-teams organizational level, we highlight how bringing people together in global teams from different organizational units and cultures creates the potential for experiential individual and team-based learning, while making the firm more flexible and adaptable.
Theoretical implications
The potential of the relatively underexplored idea of global team-based firms as an alternative to hierarchy open up questions for empirical research, and further theorizing about the global firm.
Practical implications
Practitioners can learn about organizational, team, and individual challenges and benefits of global team-based organizing.
Originality/value
A century-old dominant organizational form is challenged when moving away from hierarchy- and hybrid-based forms of organizing toward team-based global organizing of work.
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Sascha Fuerst and Peter Zettinig
This paper aims to examine the dynamic process of knowledge creation of the international new venture (INV) through the interaction with network partners. The process of how INVs…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the dynamic process of knowledge creation of the international new venture (INV) through the interaction with network partners. The process of how INVs make use of external sources for the acquisition of international market knowledge is not well-understood.
Design/methodology/approach
To uncover the dynamics of the knowledge creation process, the authors applied event-driven process research by following the internationalization process of four INVs in real time. More specifically, they adopted qualitative diary research combined with periodic follow-up interviews as the main data collection method. A visual mapping strategy was used for the analysis of the process data.
Findings
The analysis shows that different pathways of knowledge acquisition through congenital learning, searching, vicarious learning and grafting interact with each other. Grafting and experiential learning alongside the partner lead to the acquisition of internationalization knowledge in particular. Knowledge sources for international market knowledge are proactively created by the entrepreneurs. The wider effectual stakeholder network constitutes an important source for international market knowledge.
Research limitations/implications
The authors followed the early internationalization process of the case firm in real time over a 10-month period. This provides a limited window of observation. Future research might extend the observation period to examine further the evolutionary nature of the different learning types throughout the growth of the INV. The case firms operate in Internet-enabled businesses and are all located in the same country and city (i.e. Colombia and the city of Medellin). Future studies might focus on firms operating in different industries and geographical areas.
Practical implications
Congenital technological knowledge is a prerequisite for internationalization. The entrepreneur, however, does not need to rely on congenital international market knowledge. Such knowledge can be developed through network partners. Foreign business and institutional knowledge can be obtained vicariously, also from professional advisors. Internationalization knowledge, however, needs to be developed in close interaction with an international cooperation partner, where a strong relationship commitment prevails.
Originality/value
The authors use effectuation theory combined with process research methods to gain insights into the dynamics of knowledge creation within the INV. Thereby, they are able to shed light on the dynamics of the process that is difficult to capture through cross-sectional research designs. Research on the internationalization process of young ventures in the context of Latin America is scarce. Therefore, the paper contributes new knowledge about the development of these firms in that particular region.
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Frederick Ahen and Peter Zettinig
This purpose of this paper is to integrate corporate responsibility (CR) doctrine into corporate strategy by problematizing existing notions of traditional corporate social…
Abstract
Purpose
This purpose of this paper is to integrate corporate responsibility (CR) doctrine into corporate strategy by problematizing existing notions of traditional corporate social responsibility. We provide a theoretical and empirical basis for the proposition that the bridge between CR and corporate irresponsibility is the embeddedness of strategic decisions in ethically oriented corporate practices toward sustainable value co-creation.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis was performed by meta-theoretical and economic philosophical approaches. The contemporary trends which have led to the institutionalization of sustainability questions, are explained. Special attention is paid to the historical, cultural and the international institutional context within which organizational culture becomes saturated with deviance.
Findings
The main thrust is that competitive advantage, legitimacy for survival and success of the international firm in the 21st century hinges on innovative value co-creation that meets sustainability pressures and institutional expectations.
Research limitations/implications
The research approach opens itself to debate. No generalizability claims are made but the propositions and conceptual framework seek to direct the CR discourse to engage seriously with cooperative investments for sustainable value creation.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the debate on CR, global sustainability and the role of international firms in society. It offers clarity in the confusion and fills a theoretical gap through a novel conceptualization of strategic corporate responsibility. Here, consumer, environmental and institutional orientation rather than producer orientation form the basis of analysis on value co-creation.
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Birgitta Sandberg, Leila Hurmerinta and Peter Zettinig
The purpose of this paper is to advance and clarify conceptualisations of innovative and entrepreneurial individuals through the analysis of their personality traits.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to advance and clarify conceptualisations of innovative and entrepreneurial individuals through the analysis of their personality traits.
Design/methodology/approach
This study has elements of both theory testing and theory creation, which led the authors to choose the case study as their research strategy. The “case” is an innovative and entrepreneurial individual, and the authors used extreme‐type empirical cases to develop ideal‐type concepts. The analysis is based on extensive longitudinal data.
Findings
The study makes a contribution to theories of both entrepreneurship and innovation. It adds conceptual clarity in terms of providing evidence that the individuals concerned should not be considered as one characteristic group of actors. The authors propose that highly innovative and entrepreneurial individuals can be further divided to entrepreneurial innovators and innovative entrepreneurs.
Practical implications
This study may enable the colleagues, business partners and competitors of entrepreneurial innovators and innovative entrepreneurs to better understand – and to some extent also to forecast – their behaviour. It also gives some hints regarding cooperation opportunities with both types of individual, and getting the most out of them. The results should also help policy makers and support agencies to recognise these people, who play an important role in the economy.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge this study is the first to analyse the traits of individuals who are both extremely innovative and highly entrepreneurial.
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Frederick Ahen and Peter Zettinig
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an issue-oriented substantive domain. Nevertheless, there are countless socio-economic, medico-techno-scientific, environmental and…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an issue-oriented substantive domain. Nevertheless, there are countless socio-economic, medico-techno-scientific, environmental and ethical philosophical questions that are far from being settled. In pursuit of a more desirable and sustainable future, this work problematizes current corporate responsibility (CR) research, education and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This contribution provides a critical perspective on the future of CR research and practice and offers a way forward based on theoretical prescience.
Findings
The paper delineates a taxonomy of typical crises, categorized as burning, existential, overlooked and neglected crises. This taxonomy can be used as a tool for all forms of scenario analysis, empirical work and policymaking. This allows various futures issues to be given targeted interventions, assigned a focal theory, or allocated differentiated resources and appropriate time and space depending on their technical nature and the institutional context within which the issues unfold.
Social implications
This paper argues that CR research risks losing steam despite its near ubiquitous nature and the major contributions hitherto made. Nevertheless, when problems are strategically thought out in the light of the taxonomy above, they provide promising avenues for insightful research and value-creating practice to meet the expectations of both business and society.
Originality/value
A profound chasm exists between CR practice and rhetoric. This void is particularly stark when we consider the interface between science and technology and developing economies. This paper explores desirable futures for CR while analyzing what is possible and probable.
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Frederick Ahen and Peter Zettinig
Purpose – This chapter seeks to theoretically demonstrate that authentic corporate strategy is entrenched in an ethical responsibility, and ethical responsibility requires a…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter seeks to theoretically demonstrate that authentic corporate strategy is entrenched in an ethical responsibility, and ethical responsibility requires a strategic framework to qualify as a sustainable value co-creation process that determines the long-term success of the firm.Design/methodology/approach – Through economic philosophical analysis and content analysis, we critically reviewed literature which argues for the integration of corporate responsibility (CR) and corporate strategy both in theory and practice by putting the concept into a proper context of institutional and time-based dynamics.Findings – The chapter delineates the salient dimensions of the dominant logic (D-L) of strategic corporate responsibility (SCR). The traditional notion of CSR is explained, compared and contrasted with the transitioning process of strategic CSR and the D-L of SCR which is at the civic level. We also identified four global forces that serve as enablers of strategic CR logic.Practical implications – The D-L of SCR explains how a firm defines and redefines itself and not what a firm does. We underscore what firms are in the ‘process of becoming’ through a co-evolutionary process with markets and institutions. Firms which want to go beyond mere survival in the 21st century must see the D-L of SCR not as a choice but as an imperative constrained by these global forces.Originality/value of chapter – The novelty of this chapter is that it challenges traditional CSR and provides a shift in thinking about the concept of CR where sustainability and innovative strategies become the source of institutional and market legitimacy and hence a competitive advantage.
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Peter Zettinig and Zsuzsanna Vincze
The purpose of this paper is to construct a process theory of cluster development, in order to complement the many studies focusing on the factors that determine successful…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to construct a process theory of cluster development, in order to complement the many studies focusing on the factors that determine successful clusters.
Design/methodology/approach
This theory‐building effort relies on event‐driven methodology, which triangulates narratives collected at different points in time with other documented materials, in order to trace cluster development over a six‐year period. The empirical data are analysed according to theoretical classes formed a priori and anchored in Aldrich's framework of emergence, events and consequences. The idea is to identify critical events that subsequently inform theory development.
Findings
The authors show that three critical processes drive sustainable cluster development: the exploitation of current opportunities, the exploration of future opportunities, and processes that facilitate the balancing of the two. Whereas the conceptual focus in the extant literature is on exploration and exploitation processes, the authors find that balancing processes are also critical.
Practical implications
The paper's findings are of practical relevance to private and public policy makers with regard to the management and financing of balancing mechanisms that help to secure sustainable development. The authors will continue to follow the development of this specific cluster in order to identify a wider range of sub‐processes that contribute to the long‐term viability of clusters in general.
Originality/value
This work is original in the sense that it extends March's exploration and exploitation theory, applies it to the inter‐organisational context of clusters, and links the two processes through a process of balancing. The empirical evidence and the methodological approach used contribute in terms of building a “real process theory”, according to Aldrich's specification of an event‐driven research approach.
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