Contingent Approach Research Articles

The relationship between network capabilities and innovation performance

PurposeInnovation networks provide an efficient mechanism for organizations to realize their potential for knowledge learning and innovation improvement. Firms situated within innovation networks require specific abilities to acquire the knowledge and the complementary assets that facilitate their innovation performance. Motivated by recent research studies in the area of social network and RBV, the purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the precise manner in which network capability affects a firm’s innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachBased on the data obtained from Chinese high-tech firms, the hypotheses are tested by using hierarchical multiple regressions.FindingsThis study identifies two types of network capabilities: network structural capability and network relational capability. The findings suggest that network structural capability has a greater positive impact on innovation performance than network relational capability does within an exploration-orientated network. However, network relational capability is more positively associated with innovation performance within an exploitation-orientated network.Practical implicationsA firm can enhance the value of its ego network by shaping and adjusting network configurations, rather than by passively reaping the benefits from existing relationships or ties with partners.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to strategic management theory and social network theory by illustrating how a networked firm can enable network value and appropriate this value according to its strategic purposes and by suggesting that a firm can improve its ego network’s value through exerting its network capabilities to shape and adjust network configurations. This paper also advances the contingent approach within social network research by offering a new complementary perspective and new evidence from a Chinese context.

Complex Thinking and Computing Organization Facing Contingent Problems

Facing the reflexive modernity, social wealth production is systematically correlated with the production of social and technical problems. Due to the complexity paradigm and contingent approach, public organizations are conflicting with a “one best way” slant. Indeed, they are understood as computing ones and so they can adapt to a changing environment. The purpose of this paper is to understand how public managers deal with contingent problem solving and so to characterize computing organization. Through a qualitative methodology, this paper sheds light on an integrative model of computing organization able to solve contingent problems, with five dimensions.

Management Accounting System, Perceived Environmental Uncertainty and Corporate Performance in the Nigeria Breweries Sector.

The study examined the effect of Perceived Environmental Uncertainty on the Implementation of Management Accounting Systems on performance of Breweries Companies in Nigeria. Survey design method was adopted to gather data from respondents using structured questionnaire designed using likert-scale. Data were analysed using correlational and inferential statistics. Results shows R2 of 0.759 and F-value of 172.88 which provide ample confirmation on the effect of adoption of Management Accounting Systems (MAS) based on Perceived Environmental Uncertainty (PEU) on organizational performance in the Breweries sector of the Nigeria economy following the high correlational positive relationship between the variable studied. It is concluded that adoption of Management Accounting systems based on perceived Environmental Uncertainties has enhanced the performance of the sector when tailored to the level of Environmental Uncertainties facing the Sector: It is recommended that contingent approach should be adopted in designing MAS so as to ensure provision of reliable and relevant information for product cost and pricing.

Search broadly or search narrowly? Role of knowledge search strategy in innovation performance

PurposeThis paper aims to shed some new light on the mixed findings of previous empirical studies on the effect of knowledge search breadth (SB) on firms’ 2019 innovation performance (IP).Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a contingent approach that examines the two organizational factors in determining the shape of the SB-IP curve. The empirical study is based on survey data gathered from 414 Chinese firms. In dealing with concerns on simultaneity and reverse causality, perceived time-lag between outcome variable and explanatory variables was introduced.FindingsThis study reveals that knowledge novelty and absorptive capacity are two functions underlying the SB-IP relationship. The results also indicate that innovation orientation and firm age moderate the SB-IP relationship in different ways: the more innovation-oriented the firm, the steeper the inverted U-shaped SB-IP relationship will be, while the older the firm, the flatter the SB-IP relationship will be. Interestingly, there is strong evidence for the shape-flip phenomenon of the SB-IP curve: SB has an inverted U-shaped effect on IP when a firm is young; however, SB has a U-shaped effect when the firm is older than 37 years.Originality/valueBy revealing two underlying functions and two moderators of the association between SB and IP at the firm level, this paper contributes to shed some new light to the mixed results reported by previous empirical studies that have examined the effect of knowledge search on firm innovation.

Перспективы реализации Целей устойчивого развития ООН в России

The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015 in Resolution 70/1 “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” embrace a wide range of issues facing both developed and developing countries.Implementation of the SDG is of particular interest both in international context and according to the agenda of socio-economic development of the Russian Federation, thus the task of identifying medium-term sustainable development priorities of Russia acquires great importance. The paper is based on comparative analysis of priorities of the Presidential Order “On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation through to 2024” (the May-2018 Executive Order), active state programs and the SDG targets. The purpose of the paper is to determine the correlation between the SDG targets and Russia’s medium- and long-term national strategic goals.The outcomes of the research demonstrate that there is a room for further increase of effectiveness of implementation of the SDG based on contingent approach ensuring solidarity and balancing of social, economic and ecological aspects of the SDG implementation. Russia’s strategy towards implementation of the SDG requires greater level of contingency meaning incorporation of social aspects of sustainable development into national strategic documents.

Estratégias de uma IES brasileira para lidar com contextos ambientais adversos

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo compreender, à luz das abordagens sistêmica e contingencial, as estratégias de gestão utilizadas por uma IES privada em contexto econômico instável e adverso. Para isso, foram feitas entrevistas semiestruturadas com gestores da IES em questão. Os dados coletados foram analisados de acordo com a técnica de Análise de Conteúdo, com categorização a posteriori. Foram encontradas três categorias, a saber: ameaças percebidas, visão de mudanças e estratégias de gestão, que propiciaram atingir o objetivo proposto.

Kelas Menengah Santri Dan Proses Demokratisasi di Indonesia

The theory of the relationship between the middle class and democratization has been a serious discussion since the latter half of the 1950s when Martin Lipset tried to examine the relationship between the two to find out the main requirements for the realization and maintenance of democracy in a country. Since the Lipset period, the debate on the relation between the middle class-democratization can be divided into two mainstream approaches, namely unilinear and contingent.The first group that uses a unilinear approach has a theoretical basis for the theory of modernization. This group argues that when modernization occurs in a society, the level of income, education, socioeconomic mobility, and views on the values of freedom will also increase. These things are in turn believed to encourage the creation of democratization in a society or country that is not yet democratic, and at the same time can strengthen democratic institutions in countries that have implemented democracy as their state system. Hattori concluded that the presence of the middle class generally encouraged, even they became the main pillars of the movement towards democratization. In simple terms this unilinearist group wants to say that modernization in the socioeconomic sector will foster the middle class, which in turn will spearhead the realization of democratization in an undemocratic country. In short, according to this group the middle class is a major supporter of democratization and democracy in a country.The second mainstream is those who use a contingent or conditional approach. Unlike the first group which considers the causal linearity between social classes as a consequence of modernization and democratization, this second group assumes that the relationship between the middle class and democratization is actually a more dynamic relationship. Bruce Dickson, for example, argues that "democratization is not a natural consequence of class changes due to economic growth. It is more a result of a political process that is colored by conflict, negotiation, where in some cases it results in the opposite condition," for example returning to authoritarianism.

A contingent approach to energy mix policy

Prior work has suggested that cultivating environmentally friendly energy sources can strike a balance between reducing CO2 emissions and fostering economic growth, yet little is known about whether and how energy-mix policies tap into the balance. Energy-mix is important mainly because maintaining energy supplies exclusively using renewable energy sources is not completely feasible. Our study takes a contingent approach to energy mix policies and suggests that the appropriate mix for reducing carbon emissions is not static but dynamic depending on the developmental stages of national economic systems. We follow the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, the most influential model for relating CO2 emissions to economic development, but depart from it by utilizing multifactor productivity data, rather than the conventional measure of GDP per capita, to capture economic growth. Empirical analyses of OECD countries from 1985 to 2013 show that the best energy policies for OECD countries is the gradual decrease in their relative reliance on natural gas, nuclear power, bio and waste fuels in a short run, over the next about 9, 2 and 5 years respectively, whereas solar and wind power can decrease CO2 in a long run as the economy continues to grow.

Controversial topics and teacher answerability in Swedish for immigrants classes for refugees

This paper uses a dialogic framework to analyse how teachers of Swedish as a second language to adult refugee learners in Sweden position themselves in terms of both planned and contingent approaches in the classroom in relation to values teaching and controversial topics. The paper draws on a narrative study which explored the stances of five Swedish for Immigrants teachers in relation to problematic topics through the use of narrative frames, picture prompts and interviews. Findings from the study suggest that teachers’ choices to engage with or avoid values teaching and controversial topics can best be understood in terms of dialogic answerability, namely a moral responsiveness and responsibility to students as well as to the host society.

Performance measurement design: a contingency perspective from the Italian regional healthcare services

PurposeIn the last few decades, the effectiveness of the evaluation of human resources and their performances has become a crucial theme in the debates of the public sector. The purpose of this paper is to analyze key design characteristics of performance management system (PMS) that may be effectively adopted and deployed by management to enable the assessment for a health system improvement.Design/methodology/approachThis paper falls under the field of studies that focuses on the design and implementation of PMS in the healthcare sector. This research adopted a qualitative approach across the case study method to understand the role of different contextual factors and their impact upon the design of PMS. Mainly drawing on previous studies on the Italian regional health systems, a target region has been selected for these purposes.FindingsAs a result, the new PMS was effectively working and was structured with a balanced focus on the region and the single healthcare organizations. The need for improving the information systems within the healthcare organizations was strongly emphasized. The crucial element of the new PMS was the transparency about the assessment procedures.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the debate on factors that can influence the design of PMS in healthcare. Relying on a contingent approach, the authors put forward the need of a more comprehensive and integrated frameworks encompassing organic conception of PMSs, as well as of the interdependencies among their components.

Willingness to Pay of Consumers for Improved Couscous Made with Corn in Southern Benin

This study evaluates the willingness of Southwestern Benin’s consumers to consume and pay (WTP) the improved Yêkê-yêkê, a couscous made with corn, and the determining factors via the contingent analysis approach. The data was collected from 95 consumers recruited in major markets and shops in urban and peri-urban areas. According to the results, the average WTP predicted from the weighted least squares (WLS) model is estimated at about 130 FCFA/kg (or 0.11 Euros per kilogram) or a 130% surplus of the average price of the traditional Yêkê-yêkê which costs 100 FCFA/kg (0.15 Euros per kg). The explanatory factors of this WTP are mainly related to gender, the area of residence expressing that urban consumers, especially women, were more inclined to grant a high WTP. Other factors, related to the perception of participants about the characteristics of the improved product, namely cleanliness/absence of insects or pebbles, cooking time, presentation/packaging, product availability and importance of the product. The importance of Yêkê-yêkê in household food was also determinant. The results could be useful for processors and policymakers in the ongoing effort to improve the quality and sale of maize products in West Africa at an acceptable price.

External knowledge search for innovation: the role of firms’ innovation strategy and industry context

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the extent to which the influence of external knowledge search on innovation performance is contingent on both a firm’s innovation strategy and the industry context in which it operates.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a contingent approach that centers analysis on the influence of situational factors, either exogenous or endogenous to the organization, as determinants of the external knowledge search in promoting the firm’s innovation performance. The empirical study is based on a large sample of 18,955 firms operating in 29 industries that belong to 13 European countries.FindingsThis analysis reveals that a broad knowledge search is more effective for firms that innovate in new goods, while a deeper knowledge search is more effective for firms that innovate in new services. The results of this study also indicate that external knowledge search varies across industries, with search depth being used more in industries in which the knowledge development process is cumulative and appropriable, while the external breadth search is preferred in industries with a high level of technological opportunity.Originality/valueThe current approach implies recognizing that the knowledge search strategies may not always be effective, and that firms should align the search strategy to both internal and external factors. Analyzing the influence of these factors can help managers to better choose the type of knowledge search (e.g. intensive or extensive search) that best aligns with the firm’s innovation objectives.

Modernismo global y literatura mundial: reflexiones sobre las dislocaciones cosmopolitas del significante francés

This article proposes a dis-centered and contingent approach to the world as basis to think about world literature. In this frame, the construction of a French significant by Latin American modernists is described, a universal Paris from which they will articulate themselves as a marginal particularity. In opposition to such artefact, the article discusses the world imaginary in the experimental novel L’Homme de la pampa (1923), by French-Uruguayan writer Jules Supervielle, whose identity adscription is doubly interstitial: never assimilated to French surrealism and kept at distance in Uruguay. Supervielle’s world is dislocated and heterogeneous, without stable formations and, therefore, resistant to the fetishization of culturalvdifference, including that which is built upon Latin American difference.

Supervising the Performance of Teachers in Bulawayo Metropolitan Province

The purpose of this study was to investigate the appropriate models Education Managers could use to enhance the performance of teachers in the teaching and learning process through supervision in Bulawayo Central District. The epistemological foundations informing this study was a post-positivist paradigm employing a quantitative approach. Structured questionnaires were used to gather data from the respondents (N=50) who were randomly selected from the ten schools. The major finding was that both Education Managers and teachers investigated were pedagogical qualified. Weighing in were their experience and maturation levels. Similarly, the emphasis on measurable standards, getting inputs from the teachers before writing a report, successful accomplishment of tasks and being both human and task oriented in practice demonstrated that a contingent approach was being employed by supervisors. In the process, models were integrated, although, the Clinical Supervision Model unconsciously. A need to staff develop the supervisory corps in the latter arose.

Evaluation of Fraud Examinations: A Contingent Approach to Private Internal Investigations

Abstract The business of private internal investigations by external fraud examiners has grown remarkably in recent decades. Law firms and auditing firms are hired by private and public organizations to reconstruct the past when there is suspicion of misconduct and potential financial crime. This article has presented an empirical study of 49 private internal investigations in Norway that were publicly available. A contingent approach to investigations was applied, where private investigations at later stages are facing different mandates than investigations at earlier stages in the criminal justice system. This research has been exploratory by indicating that fraud examiners make a higher level contribution at later stages in the criminal justice system.

OC15.04: Chromosomal abnormalities detected by cell‐free DNA testing as a contingent approach versus direct invasive prenatal diagnosis

OC15.04: Chromosomal abnormalities detected by cell‐free DNA testing as a contingent approach versus direct invasive prenatal diagnosis

Identidades y memorias en Londres 38, Paine y Chacabuco (Chile)

Este artículo estudia la relación entre identidad y memoria, entendida esta última en una doble dimensión: como continuadora de identidad y como constructora de identidad. Desde esta perspectiva, el texto indaga la relación identidad-memoria en cuatro organizaciones que denuncian la violación de los derechos humanos y el terrorismo de Estado en Chile luego del golpe militar de 1973. Se analiza la relación entre la manifestación pasada de estos grupos y su expresión presente y la identidad, que se define como una sutura y un posicionamiento estratégico que permite historizar las expresiones de memoria y reflexionar respecto a ellas más allá de una aproximación contingente. A través de la memoria militante de Londres 38, la memoria campesina de Memorial Paine y la comunidad hecha memoria en el caso de Chacabuco, se postula la doble dimensión que se mencionó y se explica cómo esta permite entender las distintas aproximaciones a un hecho aceptado por las organizaciones analizadas. Así, sus características y sus particularidades, su acción y su devenir llevan a reconocer las diferencias, manifestaciones y posibilidades de estas organizaciones para mantenerse en el espacio de las narrativas sociales sobre el pasado y el presente y, principalmente, sobre las identidades de las que son expresión. Por ello, en este trabajo se señala la relevancia de reconocer la doble dimensión de la memoria. Al mismo tiempo, invita a reflexionar e indagar sobre la relación identidad-memoria mayormente aceptada y acerca de la manifestación de esta en el espacio discursivo de los nuevos contextos sociales en los que se produce y a los que cada grupo debe hacer frente.

Determinant of willingness to pay and economic value for tourism object using contingent valuation method: The case of sangiran sites, Province of central Java, Indonesia

In this paper we want to determine the factors of willingness to pay for quality improvement and to estimates of economic value in Sangiran, Central Java Province, Indonesia. This paper used contingent valuation approach. The study involved Sangiran visitors, they were surveyed for their willingness to pay for historical, cultural, and educational function. Finding from this study, the significant factors affecting the individual’s willingness to pay are bid, gender, and income. The economic value of Sangiran sites tourism was estimated between Rp 0.665 billion per year until Rp 2.409 billion per year.

Can project sustainability management impact project success? An empirical study applying a contingent approach

This study aims to propose and to validate a research model on project sustainability management. Moreover, it investigates the relation between project sustainability management and project success. The methodological approach is a survey-based research, using structural equation modelling to validate the research model. The hypotheses were tested based on a field study involving 222 projects distributed among eight industries and two countries. The results show a low degree of commitment to social and environment aspects of the surveyed projects. The structural model proposed shows a significant and positive relation between project sustainability management and project success and in reducing the social and environmental negative impact.

Beneficiaries’ Willingness to Pay for Resuscitation Provided by Ambulance Attendants: A Survey Using the Contingent Valuation Approach

Background: Japanese emergency medical services (EMS) can be used by anyone for free. Recently, EMS usage has increased; the increased costs and the prolonged time for ambulance transport have become recent social problems. Objective: We surveyed the willingness to pay (WTP) for resuscitation provided by EMS. Methods: In November 2011, men and women (3160) aged 20 - 59 years were asked to assume that they were experiencing a cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA), and their WTP for EMS services was assessed in the following three situations: Case A, ambulance transport alone; Case B, chest compression in addition to ambulance transport; and Case C, artificial ventilation through chest compression and intratracheal intubation, in addition to ambulance transport. We calculated the mean WTP for each case. Results: The WTP for Case A, B, and C were ￥6,696 ($65.0), ￥16,081 ($156.1), and ￥27,505 ($267.0), respectively. The WTP for Case B was significantly higher in respondents aged 40 - 59 years compared to those aged 20 - 39 years. The WTP for case B and C were significantly higher in males compared to females. WTP was significantly lower in students than it was in private employees. Although women’s intention to pay was higher than that of men, their WTP was lower than that of men. Public employees’ and students’ intention to pay was significantly lower than that of private employees. Conclusions: Our study provides information about the optimal fee for EMS, which will be useful for discussions on the feasibility of introducing a fee for EMS in Japan.