https://www.mdu.se/

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding regarding how managers attempt to make purposeful use of innovation management self-assessments (IMSA) and performance information (PI).

Design/methodology/approach

An interpretative perspective on purposeful use is used as an analytical framework, and the paper is based on empirical material from two research projects exploring the use of IMSA and PI in three case companies. Based on the empirical data, consisting of interviews and observations of workshops and project meetings, qualitative content analysis has been conducted.

Findings

The findings of this paper indicate that how managers achieve a purposeful use of PI is related to their approach toward how to use the specific PI at hand, and two basic approaches are analytically separated: a rule-based approach and a reflective approach. Consequently, whether or not the right thing is being measured also becomes a question of how the PI is actually being interpreted and used. Thus, the extensive focus on what to measure and how to measure it becomes edgeless unless equal attention is given to how managers are able to use the PI to make knowledgeable decisions regarding what actions to take to achieve the desired changes.

Practical implications

Given the results, it comes with a managerial responsibility to make sure that all managers who are supposed to be engaged in using the PI are given roles in the self-assessments that are aligned with the level of knowledge they possess, or can access.

Originality/value

How managers purposefully use PI is a key to understand the potential impact of self-assessments.

Abstract: The overall research focus in the study is how photographs can be used in workplace innovation processes. This work-in-progress paper discusses photo-supported group discussions on innovation as an approach to incorporate employees in the development of a radically innovative culture. The method involves managers and engineers in a process that transforms their conceptions of innovation into visuals and words, and provides a possibility for collective reflection based on these formulations. Enabling all employees to use their experiences and knowledge in workplace innovation is an opportunity being pursued in Sweden. The paper is a starting point to discuss whether or not the method of photo supported discussion on innovation could be helpful to support a shift to a radically innovative culture. The concepts of downloading or presencing are introduced to analyse the method.

Purpose – Prior studies have argued that small firms with dynamic capabilities can revise and reconfigure their internal resources to meet the uncertainties of their business environment. However, there is a lack of understanding of how they can develop such critical capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to propose that small firms can employ information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities as a facilitator for developing dynamic capabilities. Thus, the study builds on resource-based view (RBV) literature and information systems (IS) literature by examining the influence of ICT capabilities on the dynamic capabilities of small firms. Design/methodology/approach – Several hypotheses were tested by analysing the survey data from 291 small high-technology firms in Sweden. Findings – The results reveal that ICT capabilities influence dynamic capabilities of small firms. More specifically, the ICT use for internal efficiency positively influences adoptive capabilities, collaborative use of ICT positively influences networking capabilities, and ICT use for communications positively influences both adaptive and innovation capabilities. Consequently, the results suggest that the different components of ICT capabilities facilitate the development of the different organizational capabilities that together represent dynamic capabilities and thus, can contribute to a small firm’s competitive advantage. Practical implications – This study has few implications for the managers and CEO’s of small high-technology firms. First, by prioritizing ICT capabilities, small firms can benefit from the development of dynamic capabilities that will support them to meet the challenges of turbulent business environment. Second, because small firms usually lack internal resources (i.e. financial resources and competence), the study provides more specific direction on how they can strategically invest and build different components of ICT that will positively influence their adaptive, absorptive, innovative, and network capabilities. Originality/value – The study provides an alternative view of how ICT capabilities influence the performance of small firms, and outlines how such capabilities influence the development of dynamic capabilities. Therefore, the study in hand contributes to the RBV and IS literature by specifically linking the components of ICT capabilities to dynamic capabilities and its related sub-capabilities.

Context: Organizational performance measurements in software product development have received a lot of attention in the literature. Still, there is a general discontent regarding the way performance is evaluated in practice, with few studies really focusing on why this is the case. In this paper research focusing on the context of developing software-intensive products in large established multi-national organizations is reported on. Objective: The purpose of this research is to investigate performance measurement practices related to software product development activities. More specifically, focus is on exploring how managers engaged in software product development activities perceive and evaluate performance in large organizations from a managerial perspective. Method: The research approach pursued in this research consist of exploratory multiple case studies. Data is collected mainly through 54 interviews in five case studies in large international organizations developing software-intensive products in Sweden. Focused group interviews with senior managers from eight companies have also been used in the data collection. Results: The results of this research indicate that managers within software product development in general are dissatisfied with their current way of evaluating performance. Performance measurements and the perception of performance are today focused on cost, time, and quality, i.e. what is easily measurable and not necessarily what is important. The dimensions of value creation and learning are missing. Moreover, measurements tend to be result oriented, rather than process oriented, making it difficult to integrate these measurements in the management practices. Conclusion: Managers that are dissatisfied with their performance measurement system and want to improve the current situation should not start by focusing on the current measurements directly; instead they should focus on how the organization perceives performance and how important performance criteria are being developed. By developing relevant performance criteria the first step in developing an effective performance measurement system is made. Moreover, it is concluded that manager's perception of performance is affected by the currently used measurements, hence limiting the scope of the performance criteria. Thus, a change in the way managers perceive performance is necessary before there can be any changes in the way performance is evaluated. 

The scope of industrial automation is shifting into a third wave of automation based on extreme information availability, cyber-physical systems and data analytics. This paper present critical factors and way forward for the development of the Swedish industrial automation sector, both users and suppliers. Based on literature and practice studies, and a survey including some 40 respondents, ten factors for realising the third wave of automation was identified with four key factors: Technology, Processes, Business models and Competence. Finally, initial steps on a way forward are proposed for the development of Swedish automation industry and research.

There is an ongoing trend to expand traditional offerings of selling goods towards providing value through services to customers. In academia the term Industrial Product-Service Systems (IPS2) describes this phenomenon. Although many articles have been published on IPS2 a systematic review is lacking. This paper presents a systematic review of the IPS2 domain. Five themes characterizing IPS2 are revealed: delivery, processes, value creation networks, knowledge management, and business models. IPS2 is concluded to be both a young and distributed field of research, with a scope that needs to expand in terms of the themes covered and number of empirical studies.

Within the field of performance measurement and management (PMM) it is well-established that more research is needed into understanding how change is managed in performance measures (PM) (Eccles, 1991; Ghalayini and Noble, 1996; Neely, 1999; Kennerley and Neely, 2002; Kennerley and Neely, 2003; Melnyk et al., 2004; Neely 2005; Bourne, 2008). Even though academics have risen to the challenge by proposing several performance measurement frameworks (Bititci et al., 2000; Bourne et al., 2000; Najmi et al., 2005; Kennerley et al., 2003) two shortcomings prevail in the contemporary thereotical base. Firstly, little research has focused on the applied practices of organisations in the industry for managing change. Secondly, the research available today takes on a management perspective rather than an organisation-wide equivalent. This has been acknowledged by Bourne (2008) that underlines the need for more collaborative research into understanding how organisations manage change in PM in practice. With these deficiencies in mind, the purpose of this paper is firstly to outline the PM review practice of an organisation within the heavy automotive industry from two perspectives, top-management and operational, and secondly to contrast the practice to theory. In order to do this, two case studies at one case company have been executed, one from each perspective. The heavy automotive industry, defined in this paper as the industry for buses, trucks, and construction equipment, is both interesting and appropriate to study in relation to the outlined phenomenon.