Onno Omta
Wageningen University, Management Study Group, Faculty Member
The present paper aims at answering the question how cluster organization functions are implemented in a high-tech, a medium to high-tech and a low to medium-tech cluster. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews from three... more
The present paper aims at answering the question how cluster organization functions are implemented in a high-tech, a medium to high-tech and a low to medium-tech cluster. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews from three clusters in the Netherlands, an agri-food cluster (as an example of a low to medium-tech cluster), a green biotech cluster (medium to high-tech) and a high-tech cluster. Concerning the cluster organization functions a number of similarities were found. For all three clusters it can be concluded that the network support function is considered to be very important. Sector independence can further be found concerning the innovation process support function, specifically regarding the promotion of the region as an attractive living and working area for highly qualified employees. The results also show a number of clear differences among the investigated clusters. Only in the low-to-medium tech agri-food cluster there was a clear need for internationalization...
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Previous Responsible Innovation (RI) research has provided valuable insights on the value conflicts inherent to societally desirable innovation. By observing the responses of firms to these conflicts, Value-sensitive Absorptive Capacity... more
Previous Responsible Innovation (RI) research has provided valuable insights on the value conflicts inherent to societally desirable innovation. By observing the responses of firms to these conflicts, Value-sensitive Absorptive Capacity (VAC) captures the organizational capabilities to become sensitive to these value conflicts and thus, innovate more responsibly. In this article, we construct a survey instrument to assess VAC, based on previous work by CSR and RI scholars. The construct and concurrent validity of the instrument were tested in an empirical study, including 109 employees of 30 food manufacturing firms. The results from the survey were then compared with the conceptual VAC dimensions. With this comparison, we do not only contribute to the substantiation of the VAC construct, but we also show how inductive and deductive approaches can be combined to build theory regarding RI in a transdisciplinary manner.
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This paper analyses how the technical and managerial support of buyers affects the performance and investment capacity of Brazilian pig farmers. The paper also analyses the influence of the farmers’ investment capacity on their own... more
This paper analyses how the technical and managerial support of buyers affects the performance and investment capacity of Brazilian pig farmers. The paper also analyses the influence of the farmers’ investment capacity on their own performance and how that performance in turn influences the investment requirements demanded by buyers. We developed a structural equation model applied to a sample of 199 farmers including piglet farmers (n=91) and finishers (n=108) working under production contracts. The model includes two constructs that assess performance – financial performance and production and quality performance. The results show that buyer support positively influences both performance constructs and investment requirements for piglet farmers and finishers. The relationship between buyer support and investment capacity was significant only in the sample of finishers. Farmers’ investment capacity positively influences both performance constructs in the sample of piglet farmers. F...
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Supplemental material, Appendix for Toward a Value-Sensitive Absorptive Capacity Framework: Navigating Intervalue and Intravalue Conflicts to Answer the Societal Call for Health by Jilde Garst, Vincent Blok, Oana Branzei, Léon Jansen and... more
Supplemental material, Appendix for Toward a Value-Sensitive Absorptive Capacity Framework: Navigating Intervalue and Intravalue Conflicts to Answer the Societal Call for Health by Jilde Garst, Vincent Blok, Oana Branzei, Léon Jansen and Onno S. W. F. Omta in Business & Society
In this paper, we aim to identify those network subgroups that enhance the collaborative governance in a focal buyer-supplier relationship. We argue, that partners in a focal buyer-supplier relationship can be seen as embedded in a... more
In this paper, we aim to identify those network subgroups that enhance the collaborative governance in a focal buyer-supplier relationship. We argue, that partners in a focal buyer-supplier relationship can be seen as embedded in a broader network of business relationships with network subgroups, (e.g. other buyers, buyers customers), which provide information that can support the collaborative governance, assessed by flexibility, joint planning and joint problem solving, by lowering the level of information asymmetry between the partners. Empirical evidence was gathered through a mailed questionnaire returned by 175 Dutch suppliers of potted plants and flowers. Our results show the importance of the information provided by the network subgroups to manage the focal buyer-supplier relationships and ultimately the impact on performance. Interestingly, although five network subgroups were mentioned in the questionnaire, suppliers only obtained reliable information for their focal relat...
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The present study intends to contribute to the debate on whether and how the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) theory explains business performance by exploring its efficacy when applied to a constrained context such as a developing... more
The present study intends to contribute to the debate on whether and how the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) theory explains business performance by exploring its efficacy when applied to a constrained context such as a developing country. This debate revolves around the understanding of the nature of EO within a specific context and the degree to which EO, as compared to environmental characteristics, contributes to business performance. In particular, it analyses the influence of EO on the business performance of women entrepreneurs engaged in the handicraft business in Bangladesh, focussing on the effect the business and social environments exert on this relation. The results obtained from hierarchical multiple regression analyses suggest that the EO construct requires flexibility in its conceptualisation and that the implications EO has on performance need to be understood in the light of the context in which the theory is adopted. Concerning the nature of EO, we find that, fir...
Especially in complex technological contexts, companies engage in external relationships and use Business-to-business External Sources of Technology (BEST) in order to innovate. The way this relationship has to be organized (should it be... more
Especially in complex technological contexts, companies engage in external relationships and use Business-to-business External Sources of Technology (BEST) in order to innovate. The way this relationship has to be organized (should it be a merger or an alliance?) is a critical strategic choice. Despite the relevance of the above decision, the topic has not been often addressed by the literature and the existing guidelines provide little support to decision makers. Adopting a Dynamic Portfolio approach, the present papers designs a decision system where the governance modes is not conceived as a simple binary choice (either M&A or SA) but as their balance and integration within a dynamic portfolio. In doing so, the present works contributes to the literature releasing the limitations of previous studies and provide support to managerial practice. Key Words dynamic portfolio, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, decision system 1
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Food and Agribusiness Multinational Enterprises (F&A MNEs) increasingly wish to source from smallholders to secure and stabilize the supply of agricultural commodities in high value-adding supply chains, while contributing positively to... more
Food and Agribusiness Multinational Enterprises (F&A MNEs) increasingly wish to source from smallholders to secure and stabilize the supply of agricultural commodities in high value-adding supply chains, while contributing positively to smallholder livelihood. In the literature we found that many F&A MNEs have been involved in supporting smallholder farming systems in developing countries for a long time. However, these projects have principally been driven by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies. Moreover, despite many pilots to include smallholders in high value-adding supply chains, scaling or scaling up successful pilots has so far proven elusive. The aim of the present article is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that can help F&A MNEs to design and implement sourcing strategies for sustainable smallholder supply from a business perspective, and to scale up successful pilot projects from a business perspective.
Research Interests: Business, Economics, Agribusiness, Developing Countries, Agriculture, and 15 moreGlobal Sourcing, Agriculture and Food Studies, Purchasing and Supply Management, Food Security, Public Private Partnerships, Business Models, Strategic Sourcing, Social Business and Inclusive Business, CSR in MNCs, Global Value Chains, Strategic CSR, Agribusiness management, SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT, Smallholder Farmer Development, and Buying and Sourcing
The present paper aims to give insight into critical issues contributing to the successful building of viable and sustainable regional netchains, focussing on chain governance mechanisms (coordination mechanisms, quality management... more
The present paper aims to give insight into critical issues contributing to the successful building of viable and sustainable regional netchains, focussing on chain governance mechanisms (coordination mechanisms, quality management systems, information systems) and social embedding. It uses three representative case studies from the regional pork sector in Spain, Germany, and The Netherlands, illustrating different trajectories to commercially viable and sustainable regional netchains. By analysing the cases on each critical aspect, the present paper describes important issues and proposes specific elements of further research, including on the roles for (non)governmental organisations.
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Industrial pollution is the main source of our environment looking from the situation all near the country, however, industrial pollution originates from the rapid economic development and increasing model of economy. It is impelled by... more
Industrial pollution is the main source of our environment looking from the situation all near the country, however, industrial pollution originates from the rapid economic development and increasing model of economy. It is impelled by different motivations, as well as it embody different actions of environment pollution. This article points out the weakness of environment law from aspects and the problems that the present economic policy is hand to support protection of enterprise. But from microcosmic circumstances:(1)directors of enterprises paid less attention to the management about environment pollution,(2)problem of capital,(3)influenced by extensive economy increase,(4)quality-oriented of faculty,(5) lack of system of praise or punishment based on economic responsibility for environment protection.
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Climate change threatens agricultural production and the food security of developing countries in complex ways that demand environmentally friendly innovations. Climate-smart agriculture provides a response to climate change whilst... more
Climate change threatens agricultural production and the food security of developing countries in complex ways that demand environmentally friendly innovations. Climate-smart agriculture provides a response to climate change whilst enhancing livelihood of farmers. Climate-smart agricultural technological innovations at farm level have the potential to address climate-related challenges. However, inadequate adoption of these technologies remains a problem. This paper identifies available climate-smart agricultural technological innovations in South Africa and explores their characteristics and context of use using an exploratory research approach. An overview of climate change risks and variability in South Africa and a framework to classify the technological innovations is established based on a literature review. Interviews with expert stakeholders are used to characterise and collect information on available technologies. Results indicate that Conservation Agriculture, Rainwater Harvesting and Seed Varieties that are Drought Tolerant and Early Maturing may be the most suited technologies for climate-smart agriculture in South Africa, particularly for smallholder farmers. However, high initial investment costs, additional labour requirements and management intensity associated with conservation agriculture and rainwater harvesting may pose problems within the South African context. Drought Tolerant and Early Maturing Seed Varieties were noted as less costly and less management intensive, creating better prospects for adoption. This study serves as an initial assessment through the exploration of the available climate-smart agricultural technologies in South Africa. This is essential given that the agricultural sector is faced with the dilemma of responding to climate change related challenges whilst increasing the productivity of farmers.
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Knowledge, skills, and attitudes to manage sustainable development have become significant components of different career paths. Previous research has explored which competencies are needed for future change agents in the field of... more
Knowledge, skills, and attitudes to manage sustainable development have become significant components of different career paths. Previous research has explored which competencies are needed for future change agents in the field of sustainable development. Sustainable entrepreneurship can be seen as a promising work context in which these competencies are truly at the forefront and enacted. Several researchers have compiled frameworks of key competencies. However, their work is exploratory in nature and a more in-depth analysis of these frameworks is called for. In this study, an existing competence framework for sustainable entrepreneurship was tested in terms of construct validity, among 402 would-be entrepreneurs. The results suggest the inclusion of six competencies, which constitute a competence framework with a good model fit. Furthermore, a new combination of two existing competencies is proposed. This study has important implications for the debate on which competencies for s...
Research Interests: Entrepreneurship, Sociology, Philosophy, Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Development, and 9 moreSustainable Business, Competence, Change agents, Business and Management, Entrepreneurship Education, Competency base training and education, Education for Sustainability, Sustainable Entrepreneurship, and Organization Environment
ABSTRACT An important challenge for facility management is to integrate the complex and comprehensive construct of different service processes and physical elements of the service facility into a meaningful and functional facility design.... more
ABSTRACT An important challenge for facility management is to integrate the complex and comprehensive construct of different service processes and physical elements of the service facility into a meaningful and functional facility design. The difficulty of this task is clearly indicated by the present study that shows that different employee categories for interpersonal services have quite different perceptions of the facility design that stem from different but coherent needs and interests. Employees with management perspectives (i.e. top managers and facility managers) were significantly more positive about the facility design than frontline employees and their supervisors with providers’ perspectives. Also, providers attributed a more important role to facility design with respect to delivering interpersonal services than management did. We found strong indications for the need for cross-functional cooperation in decision making about the facility design, creating a more balanced setting and possibly empowering providers for the service encounter.
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Research Interests: Business, Chemical Engineering, Meat Science, Quality Management, Consumer Behavior, and 15 moreEuropean Union, International Cooperation, Supply Chain, Medicine, Animal Production, Quality Control, Animals, Meat, Quality Management System, Food Industry, Governance Structure, Food Sciences, Elsevier, Food Chain, and Costs and Cost Analysis
University–industry collaboration and innovation are popular topics in emerging countries. Although the main premise is that such collaboration and innovation increase firm performance, the empirical evidence is inconclusive. Drawing on a... more
University–industry collaboration and innovation are popular topics in emerging countries. Although the main premise is that such collaboration and innovation increase firm performance, the empirical evidence is inconclusive. Drawing on a sample of 79 Turkish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the authors find negative direct effects of innovation-based strategy and university collaboration on the profit growth of firms. However, where there is fierce market competition, they find that an innovation-based strategy increases profit growth and that collaboration with universities needs to exceed a certain level before the benefits are manifested in profit growth. These results contribute to the debate on the role of innovation and university collaboration in the profit growth of SMEs in emerging countries. For managers, the implications are that an innovation-based strategy is important in competitive markets in emerging countries, and that university collaboration needs to be...
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In open innovation teams, people from different organizations work together to develop new products, services, or markets. This organizational diversity can positively influence collaborative knowledge creation but can frustrate and... more
In open innovation teams, people from different organizations work together to develop new products, services, or markets. This organizational diversity can positively influence collaborative knowledge creation but can frustrate and obstruct the process as well. To increase the success rates of open innovation, it is vital to learn how individuals create knowledge in open innovation teams and the problems they face. However, HRD research on this topic is still lacking. This article reviews the literature in HRD, organizational, and learning sciences, describing how individuals interact when creating knowledge collaboratively, and gives an overview of the challenges with collaborative knowledge creation in open innovation teams. The article ends with a discussion and conclusion, and implications for further research.
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ABSTRACT While Contract Farming (CF) can enhance smallholders’ income in developing countries, empirical research on the motivation of smallholders to participate in CF is scarce. This paper explores farmer preferences for particular... more
ABSTRACT While Contract Farming (CF) can enhance smallholders’ income in developing countries, empirical research on the motivation of smallholders to participate in CF is scarce. This paper explores farmer preferences for particular contract design attributes. We combined analytical hierarchy process and discrete choice experiments to investigate the importance of contract design attributes. On the basis of data collected among potato farmers in Ethiopia, we found that input market uncertainty is more important than output market uncertainty in smallholders’ decision to participate. Farmers tend to minimize their risk by opting for the buyer firm above the state and NGOs as providers of seed, inputs, and technical assistance. The results imply that the success of a CF scheme depends on the willingness of the firm to incorporate the preferred contract design attributes. Institutional intervention in the input market could induce agribusiness firms to offer attractive contracts for smallholders.
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In this chapter we will go into a number of topical issues affecting the pork chain in Europe. The baseline for this chapter is the search for better quality of pork products for the European consumer and better matching ofdemand with... more
In this chapter we will go into a number of topical issues affecting the pork chain in Europe. The baseline for this chapter is the search for better quality of pork products for the European consumer and better matching ofdemand with supply in the European pork chain. As important aspects of this pursuit, quality standards, supply chain organisation, organisation of quality management in the chain, logistics structures and environmental issues will be discussed based on analysis of the pork sector and typical pork chains in six European ...
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The assumption that entrepreneurship is a critical factor in expanding employment, creating wealth and reducing poverty at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) in developing countries has led to the development of many initiatives to strengthen... more
The assumption that entrepreneurship is a critical factor in expanding employment, creating wealth and reducing poverty at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) in developing countries has led to the development of many initiatives to strengthen the entrepreneurial activities of poor people. Despite the fact that entrepreneurship is seen as a strategy in combating poverty, however, the entrepreneurial dynamics at BoP settings are still unclear. Based on focus group discussions and interviews we conducted with people engaging in vegetable farm businesses in Benin, we inductively analyse the entrepreneurial process at the BoP. We learn that the process trigger can be exogenous factors such as challenging situations and disruptive events. Based on this, we elaborate on the characteristics of the process and on the dimensions that influence, how opportunities are developed and exploited. We provide a process-based view of entrepreneurship at the BoP, suggesting the need for consistency between ...
We tested three innovation network governance mechanisms for exploring and exploiting innovation opportunities. We analysed household-level panel data from agricultural innovation networks in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo... more
We tested three innovation network governance mechanisms for exploring and exploiting innovation opportunities. We analysed household-level panel data from agricultural innovation networks in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. We found that first-order governed networks fostered capabilities for exploitation as well as exploration, while second-order governed networks fostered specialised capabilities for exploitation. Meta-governed innovation networks were most effective in combining multiple capabilities for exploration and exploitation. However, our results indicate that governance alone is not a solution to ambidexterity of innovation networks and we recommend further research on the context as a mediating factor between governance and capabilities.
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This paper presents the results of a study that assesses innovation in the Dutch food processing industry, conducted in nine leading prospector companies with headquarters or major operations in the Netherlands. A 52-item research... more
This paper presents the results of a study that assesses innovation in the Dutch food processing industry, conducted in nine leading prospector companies with headquarters or major operations in the Netherlands. A 52-item research questionnaire, based industrial organization theory and the Resource-Based-View, was designed for this study, including quantitative questions on business performance, and innovative input and output, and qualitative questions about competitive pressure and quality of the innovation process,. The results show that the majority of the participants indicate that innovation is extremely important for the long-term survival of their firms and that there is much room for improvement. The R&D-marketing gap is still one of the most important barriers to overcome, while the potential of open innovation, Key Performance Indicators, the possibility to learn at the end of each innovation project, and incentives to stimulate creativity are underutilized in almost all ...
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This paper investigates farmers’ willingness to adopt a Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)-free milk production scheme introduced by the dairy. Incentives like a price premium, advice, quality control and feed procurement are set to... more
This paper investigates farmers’ willingness to adopt a Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)-free milk production scheme introduced by the dairy. Incentives like a price premium, advice, quality control and feed procurement are set to encourage the conversion. The analysis is based upon Discrete Choice Experiments with 151 dairy farmers in Germany. Alternative-specific conditional logit estimation reveals the marginal effects of incentives and the amount of compensation. The results indicate that attributes like the price premium, takeover of feed procurement and an external audit affect the likelihood of adoption. Farmer, farm characteristics and attitudes concerning GMO as well as expectations on feed prices were found to be significant determinants of adoption. Moreover the findings demonstrate variation in the values of attributes across regions.
Especially in complex technological contexts, companies engage in external relationships and use Business-to-business External Sources of Technology (BEST) in order to innovate. The way this relationship has to be organized (should it be... more
Especially in complex technological contexts, companies engage in external relationships and use Business-to-business External Sources of Technology (BEST) in order to innovate. The way this relationship has to be organized (should it be a merger or an alliance?) is a critical strategic choice. Despite the relevance of the above decision, the topic has not been often addressed by the literature and the existing guidelines provide little support to decision makers. Adopting a Dynamic Portfolio approach, the present papers designs a decision system where the governance modes is not conceived as a simple binary choice (either M&A or SA) but as their balance and integration within a dynamic portfolio. In doing so, the present works contributes to the literature releasing the limitations of previous studies and provide support to managerial practice.
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This chapter aims at investigating which are the persisting challenges faced by youth when playing a role in shaping a more sustainable food system. To do so, it presents evidence from a case study set in Ugandan coffee... more
This chapter aims at investigating which are the persisting challenges faced by youth when playing a role in shaping a more sustainable food system. To do so, it presents evidence from a case study set in Ugandan coffee multi-statakeholder platforms (MSPs), which offers a local, contextualized perspective to this global issue. Building upon the notion of value networks, we analyse how younger farmers’ embeddedness in value networks relates to their potential to innovate towards more sustainable food systems. Empirical findings first highlight that younger farmers have significantly lower dimensions of value network embeddedness relative to older ones. Second, related to the limited value network embeddedness in a vicious circle, they own smaller farms in more remote areas from the markets and there engage less in collective action than older farmers. Third, their limited value network embeddedness directly constraints their innovation potential. These findings suggest that, in the c...
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Climate change threatens agricultural production and the food security of developing countries in complex ways that demand environmentally friendly innovations. Climate-smart agriculture provides a response to climate change whilst... more
Climate change threatens agricultural production and the food security of developing countries in complex ways that demand environmentally friendly innovations. Climate-smart agriculture provides a response to climate change whilst enhancing livelihood of farmers. Climate-smart agricultural technological innovations at farm level have the potential to address climate-related challenges. However, inadequate adoption of these technologies remains a problem. This paper identifies available climate-smart agricultural technological innovations in South Africa and explores their characteristics and context of use using an exploratory research approach. An overview of climate change risks and variability in South Africa and a framework to classify the technological innovations is established based on a literature review. Interviews with expert stakeholders are used to characterise and collect information on available technologies. Results indicate that Conservation Agriculture, Rainwater H...
Research Interests: Environmental Engineering, Technology, Climate Change, Cleaner Production, Climate Change Adaptation, and 15 moreSustainable agriculture, Precision Agriculture, Developing Countries, Adoption and Diffusion of innovations, South Africa, Climate Change Mitigation, Technology Adoption and Diffusion, Manufacturing Engineering, Technology Adoption, Agricultural Extension and Capacity Development of Smallholder Farmers, CSA, Interdisciplinary Engineering, Climate smart agriculture, Smallholder Farmer Development, and Technology Transfer and Adoption of Technology
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Food and Agribusiness Multinational Enterprises (F&A MNEs) increasingly wish to source from smallholders to secure and stabilize the supply of agricultural commodities in high value-adding supply chains, while contributing positively to... more
Food and Agribusiness Multinational Enterprises (F&A MNEs) increasingly wish to source from smallholders to secure and stabilize the supply of agricultural commodities in high value-adding supply chains, while contributing positively to smallholder livelihood. In the literature we found that many F&A MNEs have been involved in supporting smallholder farming systems in developing countries for a long time. However, these projects have principally been driven by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies. Moreover, despite many pilots to include smallholders in high value-adding supply chains, scaling or scaling up successful pilots has so far proven elusive. The aim of the present article is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that can help F&A MNEs to design and implement sourcing strategies for sustainable smallholder supply from a business perspective, and to scale up successful pilot projects from a business perspective.
Research Interests: Economics, Supply Chain Management, Agribusiness, Developing Countries, Agriculture, and 15 moreGlobal Sourcing, Agriculture and Food Studies, Purchasing and Supply Management, Food Security, Public Private Partnerships, Business Models, Strategic Sourcing, Social Business and Inclusive Business, CSR in MNCs, Global Value Chains, Strategic CSR, Agribusiness management, SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT, Smallholder Farmer Development, and Buying and Sourcing
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In order for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) standards to promote socially responsible behavior in industry, they need endure over the long-term by responding to the dynamics of society. Revisions of their content are thus necessary... more
In order for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) standards to promote socially responsible behavior in industry, they need endure over the long-term by responding to the dynamics of society. Revisions of their content are thus necessary to maintain both their input legitimacy – the socially constructed norms are accepted as fair and effective by society – and their output legitimacy – the extent to which standards are actually able to standardize the behavior of its adopters. By studying the effects of the standards underlying a front-of-pack label indicating the healthiness of food products, our study shows that a) making CSR standards more aligned with the views of civil society can increase the average social value created, but that b) de-certifications of products due to stricter standards demotivates firms to invest in enhancing compliance. The article concludes that revisions of CSR standards can only improve both …
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Purpose: Exploring the fit of employee roles and market dynamism, related to performance. Originality/value: In ecology the term ‘fit’ is used for the relation between organisms and their environment. Similarly, we conceptualized the... more
Purpose: Exploring the fit of employee roles and market dynamism, related to performance. Originality/value: In ecology the term ‘fit’ is used for the relation between organisms and their environment. Similarly, we conceptualized the relation between employee roles and markets: the employee-market connection, which may enhance SME’s strategic fit and performance. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical research was conducted at 48 SMEs with 221 respondents from the manufacturing industry (53%) and the service industry (47%) and applied a mixed model analysis. Findings: The employee role-mix is moderated by market dynamism: when market dynamism increases, the impact on performance of internal process roles decreases and the impact of rational goal roles increases. The results enrich the resource-based view with the employee-market-connection: the system is resilient, the roles adapt. A fit between market dynamism and employee roles is positively related to performance.
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The paper aims at establishing a control mix of system-technical and socio-dynamic factors for successful innovative and industrial performance in pharmaceutical industry. The different entities and relations in pharmaceutical innovation... more
The paper aims at establishing a control mix of system-technical and socio-dynamic factors for successful innovative and industrial performance in pharmaceutical industry. The different entities and relations in pharmaceutical innovation are described using the double unity cell model. Management control is operationalized using the system theory of control and the derived concepts of organizational flexibility and control capacity. The empirical study embraces structured interviews with 22 R&D directors and questionnaires sent to 38 heads of research departments of 14 pharmaceutical companies, focusing on their views and judgements regarding different aspects of management control. Tentatively, it is concluded that the study supplies confirming evidence for the thesis in socio-dynamic literature that stimulating and rewarding environments are needed to enhance R&D productivity, especially if they are embedded in a coherent pattern of other socio-dynamic and system-technical factors
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Information sharing in supply chains may result in concerns related to information security, information access privileges, and allocation of claimed benefits. To mitigate such concerns in order to efficiently and effectively share... more
Information sharing in supply chains may result in concerns related to information security, information access privileges, and allocation of claimed benefits. To mitigate such concerns in order to efficiently and effectively share information, relationships among the supply chain actors need to be managed and effective governance structures need to be chosen. Despite initial research, a comprehensible supply chain analysis of the role of governance structures in information sharing is missing. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to investigate how and to what extent supply chain information sharing can be explained by supply chain governance structures. To take into account the multi-dimensionality of information sharing, the specifications of which information to share and how to share it are considered. Based on case study data from three European pork supply chains, we conclude that information sharing cannot be solely explained by governance structures. The results show that i...
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Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of network strength, transaction-specific investments and inter-personal trust on business relationship satisfaction for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved... more
Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of network strength, transaction-specific investments and inter-personal trust on business relationship satisfaction for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in agri-food processing and exporting in China. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Survey data collected from 80 agri-food SMEs in Jiangsu Province were used for empirical testing. The authors applied an ordered logit regression approach for model estimation. Findings ‐ The results demonstrate that strong guanxi networks, high level of transaction-specific investments and inter-personal trust significantly contribute to a high level of relationship satisfaction for agri-food SMEs in China. In addition, inter-personal trust shows a moderating effect on the relationship between transaction-specific investments and relationship satisfaction. Practical implications ‐ Business relationships play a critical role in the modern market environment. Relational arr...
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Especially in complex technological contexts, companies engage in external relationships and use Business-to-business External Sources of Technology (BEST) in order to innovate. The way this relationship has to be organized (should it be... more
Especially in complex technological contexts, companies engage in external relationships and use Business-to-business External Sources of Technology (BEST) in order to innovate. The way this relationship has to be organized (should it be a merger or an alliance?) is a critical strategic choice. Despite the relevance of the above decision, the topic has not been often addressed by the literature and the existing guidelines provide little support to decision makers. Adopting a Dynamic Portfolio approach, the present papers designs a decision system where the governance modes is not conceived as a simple binary choice (either M&A or SA) but as their balance and integration within a dynamic portfolio. In doing so, the present works contributes to the literature releasing the limitations of previous studies and provide support to managerial practice.
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This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing conceptual debate on responsible innovation, and provides innovation practices and processes that can help to implement responsible innovation in the business context. Based on a systematic... more
This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing conceptual debate on responsible innovation, and provides innovation practices and processes that can help to implement responsible innovation in the business context. Based on a systematic literature review of 72 empirical scholarly articles, it was possible to identify, analyse and synthesise empirical findings reported in studies on social, sustainable and responsible innovation practices in the business context. The synthesis of the included articles resulted in a refined framework for responsible innovation in the business context. This framework includes an overview of innovation practices and processes that can enhance the dimensions of responsible innovation: anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, deliberation, responsiveness and knowledge management. Additionally, knowledge gaps are identified and a research agenda for responsible innovation is proposed. This review can therefore serve as a next step in the theoretical and practic...