Firms are increasingly using forms of AI to serve stakeholders across various business functions, resulting in both positive and negative outcomes. Stakeholder theory explains how firms create and destroy value via their stakeholder encounters, making it an ideal foundation for understanding AI deployment on firm-level perfor-mance. As AI continues to evolve, both when it comes to the activities and roles it takes and the stakeholders it affects, the AI-stakeholder framework developed herein identifies and situates key managerial decisions related to the adoption and deployment of AI that drive the firm's likelihood of creating or destroying value through stakeholder encounters. The AI-stakeholder framework focuses on stakeholder justice and is supported by testable propositions about the conditions most likely to affect the outcomes of incorporating AI into business processes. The framework also supports future research and practical managerial guidance by articulating the challenges and potential of AI for managing stakeholder encounters.
The article presents a case of Swedish municipality to demonstrate how principles from contemporary dance and choreography can be used to design and implement long-term artistic interventions on strategic level and enable employees ́ innovative competence development. The study described is a 2-year participatory action research project with practice-based training for 22 innovation leaders from different parts of organization. The results show that dance-based methods enabled participants to develop different innovative skills and strengthened their innovative competence. Unique contributions of dance methods are highlighted with the focus on pro- viding a more humanistic and bottom-up approach to enabling innovation, balancing external organizational goals with the needs and drives of each individual. Choreographic tools provided an innovative frame of thinking about using body, movement, space and time in new ways in everyday work to enable individuals to feel better, develop their personal innovative practice and create conditions they need to be innovative.
This study explores the drivers of pharmaceutical packaging innovation. Demographic changes and rising healthcare costs pose challenges for the pharmaceutical industry. To meet these challenges, packaging innovation offers opportunities to provide patients with better solutions. Based on an in-depth case study of two companies—a global drug manufacturer and a packaging manufacturer—in a customer-supplier relationship, this study investigates five drivers of innovative packaging solutions: technology, legislation, marketing, logistics, and sustainability. This study identifies multiple stakeholders' needs regarding pharmaceutical packaging innovations. It also shows that robustness of packaging is prioritized despite a patient-centric approach. This study offers suggestions for further research. It also provides a benchmark to help future studies examine other contexts.
Many companies adopt lessons-learned practices to transform gained experiences into useful knowledge for future benefit. Researchers have examined lessons-learned practices in project-based organizations that primarily develop pure products or services in various disciplines and industrial sectors. However, little research exists on the lessons-learned practices in manufacturing companies offering integrated product-service combinations. Therefore, this study performs three case studies in two large manufacturing companies undergoing a servitization journey to becoming product-service providers. The study identifies ten requirements under three main categories-content, process, and technology-for better organized lessons-learned practice. Drawing from the requirements analysis, this study develops a method for representing lessons learned in product-service innovation contexts.
Many manufacturing companies are adopting servitization as a competitive business strategy to offer product-service combinations. The ongoing shift to digitalization and Industry 4.0 provides novel opportunities and benefits to industrial firms in this regard, and researchers termed the adoption of digital technologies to servitization as “digital servitization”. In order to successfully transition towards digital servitization, fundamental reconfiguration of resources, organizational structures, work practices, infrastructure, culture, etc. are required. Hence, this paper performs a systematic literature review on prior studies covering dynamic capabilities for servitization and digital servitization. The purpose is to identify and compare the dynamic capabilities needed to facilitate a transition from “traditional” servitization to digital servitization. In doing so, this paper presents an integrated framework of dynamic capabilities to enable digital servitization, providing 22 micro-foundations for servitization and digital servitization, as well as the key challenges and enablers related to the transition from one to the other.
Electric vehicle (EV) batteries provide new business opportunities through circularity, but identifying these opportunities requires multi-stakeholder collaboration considering the interests of stakeholders, the environment, and society. However, circular business model frameworks to support and guide firms in identifying and mapping multidirectional value in the early phases of designing new circular business models are lacking. Thus, this research proposes a framework that could support stakeholders in the EV battery value chain in identifying and mapping circular business opportunities and multidirectional value among stakeholders in order to generate a win–win–win situation in the value-creation process. The proposed framework for multi-stakeholder circular business model innovation consists of four phases—namely, initiation, ideation, testing, and implementation—subdivided into eight steps to address key challenges facing firms and encourage discussions on shared values and visions among all stakeholders in the early phases of designing the circular business model.
Organizational constraints (OCs) represent work conditions that interfere with employees’ performance. Although employees share the same work environment, perceptions of OCs may vary among team members. In this study, we examined employee–teammate perceptual congruence and incongruence regarding three types of OCs (i.e., social, structural, and infrastructure) and the associated consequences for employee work engagement among health care employees from two Spanish hospitals (N = 141). Multilevel polynomial regression with response surface analyses revealed that the perceptual congruence and incongruence effects depended on the type of OCs. Congruence in perceptions was linked with greater work engagement only for social OCs. Incongruence had an effect in cases of social and structural OCs, but not infrastructure OCs: work engagement was worse when an employee rated OCs as higher (i.e., more problematic) than their teammates did. Our findings suggest that the negative effects of OCs are additionally exacerbated by perceptual incongruence with teammates and indicate the need to include social contexts in the study of work environment perceptions.
Research shows that CSR certification motives span from being symbolic to substantive. Prior studies have mainly focused on the differences between firms that hold and do not hold CSR certificates. This study explores if the extent of CSR certification is related to different business logic amongst firms who hold CSR certificates. The study utilizes full sample data from the Swedish commercial real estate industry to analyze the variance in motives and performance among firms with CSR certificates. The results indicate that firms that have a substantive CSR commitment have a business logic that entails a holistic and long-term perspective on both financial and CSR performance. However, substantive CSR commitment comes with greater staffing costs and lower financial returns as opposed to those of firms that obtain CSR certificates based on symbolic motives.
Extant literature focuses primarily on deliberate, proactive market-shaping efforts to understand changes in markets. This paper explores how emergent, incremental activities might unintentionally prompt market innovation due to the interactions of capability development and its required institutional work. Using a critical case method, we study a firm that successfully challenged established market logic by systematically changing its capabilities. A longitudinal field study reveals that capability development demands induce changes to institutional foundations; then, as institutions change, further capabilities can be developed, all of which may instigate wider market innovation outcomes. This study conceptualizes this intricate, iterative process, as well as its evolutionary market innovation outcomes. The proposed three-level capability model can guide firms striving to offer new and innovative services. The authors also detail a three-stage research design methodology that can help research and practice gain in-depth understanding of both emergent unintentional market innovation and strategic deliberate market-shaping activities.
This study draws on dual-processing theory and post-materialism assumptions to uncover the role of attitudinal and Materialistic values in determining the degree to which consumers are willing to pay premium prices for sustainable tourism services. Findings from a large-scale survey of Swedish potential ecotourists reveal that, while attitude and environmental beliefs relate positively to willingness to pay premium (WTPP) for ecotourism, materialistic values exert a negative effect In line with the theory of affect heuristics, study results further suggest that by giving rise to the intensity of feelings toward the offering, ecotourism interest alters the interplay of affective and evaluative antecedents, so that greater interest amplifies the influence, of affective attitude and materialistic values on WTPP while simultaneously attenuating the effect of environmental beliefs.
Counterfeit drugs have long been a major concern. In search of a solution, this study conducted a systematic literature review. Using an automated content analysis of pharmaceutical blockchains, this study identifies the (1) unique characteristics of smart contracts on blockchain platforms in the pharmaceutical supply chain, (2) role of smart contracts to combat counterfeit drugs, and (3) avenues for future studies. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed at the end of this paper.
As life expectancy increases, so does the number of elders. This increase poses a challenge regarding the ability of maintaining the costs for providing services to this group. In search of solution, practitioners have found technology to improve the life style of the elderly and reducing the costs in long term. This demographic change leads to opportunities for disruptive innovation as well. Elders' acceptance of innovative technology in their everyday life is a success key factor for the governments, technology providers, healthcare providers, and other major players in elders' life. This study systematically reviews the existing literature and identifies the actors in elders' life. In addition, the study provides a comprehensive review of elder's innovative technology adoption, including the impacts and costs. The study also offers suggestions and guidelines for future research.
The retailing sector is evolving, not only as a result of technological advances, but also because of concerns about climate change and new demands from governments and customers for ethical and sustainable products. Customers’ purchase intentions are crucial for the successful implementation of circular business models. However, few studies focus on the role of customers in enabling circular business models. This study fills this research gap by identifying the critical factors that impact customers’ ethical purchase intentions for circular business models in the retail sector. Based on macro-theories of human behaviour, this study proposes a theoretical model that can holistically consider the critical factors and variables that determine customers’ ethical purchase intentions towards the circular business model. The paper contributes to the body of literature on circular business models in the retail sector by exploring the issue from the customers’ perspective.
As competition in the service sector is continuously intensifying, managers are increasingly realizing how effective use of enterprise systems (ESs) might improve competition capabilities. Building on previous work that explores ESs and supply chain integration, this study investigates antecedents and consequences of ES usage among service firms. Following an empirical study using data from 233 Swedish retail and wholesale service providers, findings indicate that internal reasons such as access to new markets and anticipated performance, rather than external pressure, drive ES adoption. The study further reveals that ES usage relates positively to supply chain integration, which subsequently relates to firm performance via the mediating variable of competition capabilities. This study contributes by synthesizing previously separate constructs into a coherent research model that is both empirically viable and integrative. The study concludes by discussing implications for theory building and management practice.
Based on a sample of 148 Swedish firms, this study investigates the complementary relationships between internal and external coordination and external intelligence quality to explain product innovation performance. The results show that, with increasing manufacturing-marketing coordination, higher market intelligence quality or higher supply chain intelligence quality are positively associated with product innovation performance. The complementary roles of internal and external coordination and intelligence quality have theoretical and practical implications.
Increased digitalization enabled innovation and practical examples from the retail industry have captured the attention of marketing scholars, with rapid development in the academic field. The pace of change has significantly accelerated during the Covid-19 crisis. In seeking to (1) investigate the unique characteristics of digitalization enabled retail business model innovation, (2) understand how does digitalization influences changes to the retail business model innovation dimensions, and (3) identify the areas for future research related to retail business model innovation, this study systematically reviews the literature. Employing four databases, a sample of 170 articles were chosen. Based on bibliometric and network analysis and visualization, the major researchers, articles, and topics were rigorously identified. Finally, the results revealed the unaddressed issues in this research area. The study ends with theoretical and managerial implications.
In this study, we develop a definition and a framework for ecosystem transformation. We suggest a circular model of four main mechanisms to provide an alternative explanation of ecosystem evolvement. Interview data are used to develop a model that integrates value creation logics at its core with evolutionary mechanisms. An emphasis on firm-specific technology development sets in motion strategic and technological engagement by other firms in the ecosystem. This comes about through firms that take responsibility for change and actors that adopt new ecosystem roles to drive the whole ecosystem towards transformation around new value propositions. This signifies that disruptive innovation and technological advancement in response to market needs drive ecosystem transformation through new value creation. Our comprehensive framework offers an outline for further research in the domain of ecosystem transformation.
This study investigates a cross-cultural comparison between Germany and Norway regarding users' self-disclosure of personal information on social network sites (SNSs). More specifically, the study considers three antecedents of privacy, namely concerns, attitudes, and intentions, and evaluates their potential effects on self-disclosure, considering Facebook as the SNS of choice. The study employs a deductive research approach and develops a conceptual model based on the theoretical analysis. Data is collected via an online survey of users in Germany and Norway. The results show that privacy intention is the only antecedent that has a significant direct influence on users' self-disclosure of information. By contrast, neither privacy concerns nor privacy attitude have a statistically significant influence on self-disclosure. Additionally, there are statistically significant differences between the German and Norwegian samples in privacy concepts and reported self-disclosure. The results support the creation of more transparent privacy policies by SNS providers to improve targeted marketing.
While creating value in open innovation (OI) requires knowledge sharing, appropriating value in OI entails some closedness and protectiveness. Hence, tensions between generating and appropriating value, known as the paradox of openness, may emerge in OI collaborations. Such tensions have been scarcely explored at the micro-level, even though it is a crucial piece to fully grasping the paradox of openness. Our study bridges this gap by examining individuals’ affective responses to tensions and their outcomes in OI, thereby capturing the microfoundations of the paradox of openness. The study adopts an inductive qualitative approach and delineates various micro-level coping mechanisms that build on figurative language and humor. Accordingly, our study reveals hidden tolls of the paradox of openness, highlighted by the dominance of destructive rather than constructive affective responses. These hidden tolls illuminate a “dark side” of OI, which taps into the potential failures and high costs of opening up.
Leaders and their teams often differ in their perceptions of organizational issues, which have been suggested to influence both employee well-being and performance. The present study examined leader-team perceptual distance regarding organizational learning and its consequences for employee work performance. Sixty-eight leaders and their teams from the Swedish forest industry participated in the study. Polynomial regression with response surface analyses revealed that the perceptual distance between leaders and their teams regarding organizational learning was related to lowered work performance, beyond the influence of employee ratings alone. The analyses also indicated that work performance tended to decrease when the leader rated organizational learning as higher than the team. Our findings suggest that it is important for organizations to minimize the perceptual distance between the leaders and their teams and that further research on the construct of leader-team perceptual distance is warranted.
This paper seeks to identify the contributions of artificial intelligence (AI) to supply chain management (SCM) through a systematic review of the existing literature. To address the current scientific gap of AI in SCM, this study aimed to determine the current and potential AI techniques that can enhance both the study and practice of SCM. Gaps in the literature that need to be addressed through scientific research were also identified. More specifically, the following four aspects were covered: (1) the most prevalent AI techniques in SCM; (2) the potential AI techniques for employment in SCM; (3) the current AI-improved SCM subfields; and (4) the subfields that have high potential to be enhanced by AI. A specific set of inclusion and exclusion criteria are used to identify and examine papers from four SCM fields: logistics, marketing, supply chain and production. This paper provides insights through systematic analysis and synthesis.
Although received research emphasizes direct experiential knowledge as a key driver of firms’ internationalization, the role of indirect experience has been increasingly recognized in recent studies. In this paper, we extend these studies by examining the role of source and context of experiential knowledge in relation to firms’ internationalization into specific host markets, and offer a fine-grained analysis of when and how indirect experience complement or substitute direct experience. We test our hypotheses with data from 1,478 Swedish SMEs. Our results reveal that a firm can address its knowledge gaps and increase its extent of internationalization into a host market by combining direct and indirect experience, especially when they yield different types of knowledge needed for internationalization. We further show that direct and indirect experience derived from comparable contexts could substitute for each other but may also create knowledge redundancies.