Development Of Operational Capabilities Research Articles

Is past performance a guarantee for current results? The influence of learning on business performance in manufacturing

PurposeThis paper investigates the relationship between past performance and the development of operational capabilities in manufacturing firms, focusing on the role of intra- and inter-organisational learning mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a survey database collected in 208 manufacturing plants in 15 countries from three industries: electronics, machinery and transport components. The authors developed a model and tested the study hypotheses using the structural equation modelling technique with two-stage analytical procedures.FindingsIn the analysis of the overall sample, the study findings support prior literature by suggesting that firms with successful experiences may become complacent and less motivated to engage in learning, leading to a decline in performance. However, high-performance firms overcome the “success trap” by engaging supply chain partners. In contrast, low-performance firms exhibit limited learning from past poor performance, leading to organisational inertia and further declines in their current performance.Practical implicationsThis research provides practical guidance for managers in developing operational capabilities, highlighting collaboration with suppliers as an essential element for high-performance firms.Originality/valueThis study focuses on the little-researched topic of how past performance influences the development of operational capabilities in manufacturing firms. The authors highlight the path for developing capabilities in high- and low-performance firms based on intra- and inter-organisational learning mechanisms.

Mechanisms for developing operational capabilities in digital servitization

PurposeDigital servitization concerns how manufacturers utilize digital technologies to enhance their provision of services. Although digital servitization requires that manufacturers possess new capabilities, in contrast to strategic (or dynamic) capabilities, little is known about how they develop the required operational capabilities. The paper investigates the mechanisms for developing operational capabilities in digital servitization.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents an exploratory study based on 15 large manufacturers operating in Europe engaged in digital servitization.FindingsThree operational capability development mechanisms are set out that manufacturers use to facilitate digital servitization: learning (developing capabilities in-house), building (bringing the requisite capabilities into the manufacturer), and acquiring (utilizing the capabilities of other actors). These mechanisms emphasize exploitation and exploration efforts within manufacturers and in collaborations with upstream and downstream partners. The findings demonstrate the need to combine these mechanisms for digital servitization according to combinations that match each manufacturer’s traditional servitization phase: (1) initial phase - building and acquiring, (2) middle phase - learning, building and acquiring, and (3) advanced phase - learning and building.Originality/valueThis study reveals three operational capability development mechanisms, highlighting the parallel use of these mechanisms for digital servitization. It provides a holistic understanding of operational capability development mechanisms used by manufacturers by combining three theoretical perspectives (organizational learning, absorptive capacity, and network perspectives). The paper demonstrates that digital servitization requires the significant application of building and acquiring mechanisms to develop the requisite operational capabilities.

Механізм врегулювання проблемних банківських кредитів в умовах війни

The article deals with the issues of improving the mechanism of work of banks with problem loans in war conditions. The imperfection of the existing methods of work on non-performing loans is indicated. The political measures aimed at the effective and timely solution of problem banking assets are considered. The components of an effective strategy are presented: identification of problem loans; development of operational capability to solve problem loans; work with troubled banks. The mechanism of reduction of problem bank loans in the conditions of war is analyzed. The criteria and signs of identifying problem assets are analyzed. Attention is focused on the operational readiness of banks to manage the growing volumes of problem loans. The international experience in the field of systemic banking crises associated with non-performing loans is considered. The practical steps of banks to reduce problem assets by creating special departments are analyzed. The effectiveness of the mechanism for collecting bad debts is assessed. A number of arguments are given to improve the process of collecting problem loans in banks. The necessity of more targeted public policy measures to eliminate banking risks through problem loans and posing a threat to financial stability in a war is substantiated. The role of state asset management agencies is motivated to complement the efforts of banks to reduce non-performing loans in times of war.

Ambidexterity: realising organisational innovation in healthcare organisations

This study suggests ambidexterity as a guiding innovative perspective for healthcare organisations. Based on case illustrations from medical practitioners, a definition of healthcare ambidexterity and a desirable direction for operational capabilities are provided. As a theoretical implication, experiential capability should be chosen in the case of a low degree of control and a high degree of collaboration, while a high degree of control and a low degree of collaboration should indicate a focus on lean capability. This research makes a contribution to provide a clear understanding of 'healthcare ambidexterity' and an articulation of the practical development of operational capabilities.

Interplaying Internal and External Mechanisms for the Operational Capabilities Development

This study analyzes the impact of internal and external mechanisms on the process of operational capability development. While internal mechanisms consist a set of operational resources used by fir...

Simulation of autonomous mobile robot using fuzzy logic

One of the most important issues in the world of robot is the development of a smart system to improve the movement of autonomous mobile robots and non-collision within the place in which it moves, which requires machine learning and development of operational capabilities in the ability to visualize, data processing and decision-making.
 The aim of this research is to simulate using the fuzzy logic in the matlab program of the robot movement to avoid the obstacle and reach the required place Beside the wall. Real world is strongly characterized by uncertainty. Fuzzy logic has proven to be a conventional tool for handling such uncertainties.

Leadership and innovation capability development in strategic alliances

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether heterogeneity in alliance capability development can be attributed to the use of certain intra-firm leadership behaviors. The author suggests that transformational leadership behaviors have a stronger influence on the development of innovation (dynamic) capabilities of a strategic alliance than on the development of operational (substantive) capabilities, and that transactional leadership behaviors mainly preserve operational capabilities.Design/methodology/approach– The author used in-depth expert interviews and a questionnaire survey comprising 369 strategic business alliances to develop and test the theoretical framework.Findings– The data confirm the positive relationship between transformational leadership and the development of innovation and operational capabilities. Yet, transactional leadership behaviors are not only associated with operational capability development, but notably contribute to the development of innovation capabilities.Research limitations/implications– While the study focusses on leadership, there are many more factors that impact on the strategic ability of alliances to deliver innovation outcomes. Other limitations are the multiple levels of analysis in the theoretical model, newly developed measurement scales and that responses for the empirical study only come from one partner of the alliance.Practical implications– The study suggests advantages of exercising the full range of leadership behaviors when seeking innovation alliance outcomes.Originality/value– This research contributes to the strategic management, innovation, leadership, and alliances literature by providing new and empirical validation of the effectiveness of particular leadership behaviors in collaborative settings.

The Direct and Complementary Effects of Dynamic Capabilities

This large-scale, cross-sectional empirical study examines the simultaneous direct effects of several dynamic capability dimensions on the development of operational capabilities and firm competenc...

Overview of KSTAR initial operation

Since the successful first plasma generation in the middle of 2008, three experimental campaigns were successfully made for the KSTAR device, accompanied with a necessary upgrade in the power supply, heating, wall-conditioning and diagnostic systems. KSTAR was operated with the toroidal magnetic field up to 3.6 T and the circular and shaped plasmas with current up to 700 kA and pulse length of 7 s, have been achieved with limited capacity of PF magnet power supplies.The mission of the KSTAR experimental program is to achieve steady-state operations with high performance plasmas relevant to ITER and future reactors. The first phase (2008–2012) of operation of KSTAR is dedicated to the development of operational capabilities for a super-conducting device with relatively short pulse. Development of start-up scenario for a super-conducting tokamak and the understanding of magnetic field errors on start-up are one of the important issues to be resolved. Some specific operation techniques for a super-conducting device are also developed and tested. The second harmonic pre-ionization with 84 and 110 GHz gyrotrons is an example. Various parameters have been scanned to optimize the pre-ionization. Another example is the ICRF wall conditioning (ICWC), which was routinely applied during the shot to shot interval.The plasma operation window has been extended in terms of plasma beta and stability boundary. The achievement of high confinement mode was made in the last campaign with the first neutral beam injector and good wall conditioning. Plasma control has been applied in shape and position control and now a preliminary kinetic control scheme is being applied including plasma current and density. Advanced control schemes will be developed and tested in future operations including active profiles, heating and current drives and control coil-driven magnetic perturbation.

THE ROLE OF DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES IN DEVELOPING INNOVATION-RELATED CAPABILITIES

The purpose of this study is to explore the role dynamic capabilities have in the development of innovation-related operational capabilities. As dynamic capabilities by nature are processes and practices that advocate change, we aim to uncover the actual practices through which change strategies are implemented. Our research includes a single case study from the publishing industry. Building on a data set of interviews and secondary data we track down the development of the capabilities over the time period of five years. The results of the study imply that dynamic capabilities act as a catalyst and spark off the mechanisms of operational capability development. Our study demonstrates how different types of dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing and reconfiguring) all have an impact of the development of market and technological capabilities.

Practices of Governance and Leadership and Their Effect on Capability Development and Performance of Strategic Alliances: Results of an Empirical Study

In this study we aim to verify whether heterogeneity in alliance capability development and performance can be attributed to the use of certain intra-firm governance practices and associated leadership behaviors. We suggest that transformational leadership behavior has a significant influence on the development of dynamic capabilities and subsequent alliance performance when it co-occurs with stewardship governance, whereas transactional leadership behavior has a significant influence on the alliance when partnering firms choose principal-agent type governance. Data from 369 alliances show that the positive relationship between transformational leadership and the development of dynamic capabilities is stronger with stewardship governance, and weaker with agency governance. In the case of stewardship governance, transactional leadership behavior too is significantly associated with dynamic and operational capability development.

Operational Capabilities Development in Mediated Offshore Software Services Models

The paper expands theoretical and empirical understanding of capabilities development in the mediated offshore outsourcing model whereby a small or a medium-sized firm delivers offshore software services to a larger information technology firm that in turn contracts and interfaces with the actual end-client onshore firms. Such a mediated model has received little prior research attention, although it is common particularly among Chinese firms exporting services to Japan, the largest export market for Chinese software services. We conducted case studies in four China-based software companies to understand the mechanisms used to develop their operational capabilities. We focused on client-specific, process, and human resources capabilities that have been previously associated with vendor success. We found a range of learning mechanisms to build the capabilities in offshore firms. Results show that the development of human resources capabilities was most challenging in the mediated model; yet foundational for the development of the other capabilities. This paper contributes to the information systems literature by improving our understanding of the development of operational capabilities in small- and medium-sized Chinese firms that deploy the mediated model of offshore software services.

Exploitation and exploration learning and the development of organizational capabilities: A cross-case analysis of the Russian oil industry

We use a cross-case analysis of four Russian oil majors to develop a framework explaining the relationship between exploitation and exploration learning, and the development of organizational capabilities in transition economies. Our research explains how the changing top management style influences organizational learning over time. In the first stage of organizational transformation an authoritarian management style initiates a break with the administrative heritage of the organization to facilitate exploitation learning and the development of operational capabilities. These are required for survival in the new conditions of a market economy. In the second stage a more participatory management style fosters exploration learning and the development of strategic flexibility, required for sustainable competitive advantage. We demonstrate that exploitation and exploration learning do not coexist in the initial stages of transformation but are sequential. We found that the western-derived constructs of organizational learning add to our understanding of the process of organizational transformation in a transition context. Our study of the Russian oil industry also provides new ways to think about the processes of organizational learning in western companies, particularly large bureaucratic ones, anchored in their administrative heritage and needing to undergo organizational transformation.

Transferência de conhecimento tecnológico: estudo de múltiplos casos na indústria farmacêutica

Este artigo investiga os elementos críticos que afetam a habilidade das empresas farmacêuticas de desenvolverem suas capacidades tecnológicas operacionais e de aprendizagem dinâmica por meio de tecnologia importada. A informação obtida de estudos de casos em onze empresas, quatro no Canadá e sete no Brasil, mostra que todas as empresas adquiriram capacidade operacional em todos os estágios tecnológicos de desenvolvimento e produção de medicamentos, o mesmo não acontecendo quanto à capacidade de aprendizagem dinâmica. Mais especificamente, os resultados indicam que o desenvolvimento de capacidade operacional é afetado principalmente pelas capacidades gerenciais (de comunicador, de coordenador, de instrutor e de negociador) e pela cultura de aprendizagem. Também os estudos de casos indicam que o desenvolvimento de capacidade de aprendizagem dinâmica é influenciado pelo modo de transferência (cooperação científica e de licenciamento), pelas capacidades gerenciais (de empreendedor, de líder, de comunicador e de instrutor), pelo nível de capacidade de absorção e pela natureza da tecnologia importada.

Industry‐University Partnership:

In today′s working life, people need continuous updating and upgrading of their competence and skills – they need lifelong learning. Lifelong learning includes development of operational capabilities (which help one to do the current job better) and strategic capabilities (which allow one to learn the requirements of future jobs). Operational capabilities can be improved through company training. Strategic capabilities require continuous education. That is a task of universities and other public education providers. However, both must be linked together. Describes a model for lifelong learning based on industry‐university co‐operation. It demonstrates how the model can be implemented through analysing core competences and core employees of companies based on their business strategies. The competence development needs of companies are transferred into lifelong learning programmes for individuals. The roles of employers and universities in the implementation process are outlined. Highlights a case study based on the implementation of lifelong learning in Finland.

Spacelab: an international success story

Spacelab is a European-developed and U.S.-operated space laboratory carried in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter. This story of the Spacelab Development Program traces the program from the origin of the Spacelab concept, describing negotiations and agreements for European participation and the role of Europe and the United States in system development, operational capability development, and utilization planning. It also considers the joint management structure, coordination, and experience in solving management and technical interface problems. The book is not an exhaustive historical treatise, but an informative and readable story of the evolution and technical accomplishments of this unique program in manned space flight and of some of the unusual political and human interest aspects of the program from the viewpoint of one of the key participants.