Innovative Management Practices Research Articles

Toward a Strategic Approach to End-of-Life Aircraft Recycling Projects A Research Agenda in Transdisciplinary Context

The number of planes at the end of life is increasing. Innovative management practice of aircraft at the end of life can be considered as a transdisciplinary context. Moreover, regarding dynamics and multidimensionality of aircraft recycling projects, conventional management systems cannot be sufficient and responsive. The purpose of this paper is to address a research agenda that support various aspects of dynamics and transdisciplinarity of end of life aircraft recycling projects (EOLARP) by a strategic conceptual framework. Four sections of the framework including business model, market and industry, knowledge management and performance measurement make a basis for addressing the essential issues in EOLARP business ecosystem, which needs an incorporated approach of different disciplines and players. Further studies and works on each arena in this framework are valuable in overcoming difficulties facing managers and strategic partners in EOLARP.

ICT implementation process model for logistics service providers

PurposeInformation and communication technology (ICT) plays a critical role in supporting logistics services outsourcing arrangements. Despite the literature highlighting the benefits of ICT usage by logistics service providers (LSPs), a gap between what is expected of ICT and satisfaction with LSP performance has persisted. Seeking to reduce this gap, the purpose of this paper is to propose an ICT implementation process designed for LSPs.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model was built, which took into account the ICT implementation models identified in the literature and the LSP requirements from ICT usage. The model was adjusted according to technology innovation and change management practices. A multi‐case descriptive study was conducted to evaluate the adequacy of this model in practice.FindingsThe proposed ICT implementation model designed for LSPs combines both theoretical and empirical research. It comprises 39 activities, of which 32 were available in the literature and seven are new – mainly for aspects related to external integration. Through multiple‐case analysis, the model proved itself appropriate for supporting a step‐by‐step ICT implementation in LSPs.Originality/valueThe paper considers LSP requirements related to integrating and coordinating supply chains in the proposed model. In addition to an engineering perspective, it addresses behavioral issues for technology acceptance. It also exposes the problem posed by the definition of implementation process boundaries. Moreover, it features case studies in the Brazilian LSP industry, which has received little attention in the mainstream literature.

Collaboration and networking in the process of innovation: the path to precision time keeping

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the process of innovation management in the eighteenth century in the context of the search for precision time keeping in the watch making industry. In particular it looks at how knowledge was managed and transferred among interested stakeholders in the process.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the published horological literature on the subject and considers it within modern theories relating to the management of innovation.FindingsThis paper illustrates that personal contact and collaboration is important to the development of innovation. The paper highlights the importance of networking in the process of innovation and collaboration as a means to share and develop ideas. Collaboration with organisations working in adjacent technologies was found to be present and competition promoted by the incentive of financial reward was found to be a motivator factor for moving innovation forward.Originality/valueThis paper will be helpful to academics who study innovation history as well as current innovation management practices.

Do TQM principles need to change? Learning from a comparison to Google Inc.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is recognised for emphasising customer needs and contributing to organisations' efficiency and effectiveness through process orientation and continuous improvement. Previous research has highlighted the risk that TQM might impede firms' ability to innovate and quickly adapt to changes, especially in rapidly changing environments. However, other researchers have concluded that some of the best practices of innovation management could be recognised as TQM elements. A recurring issue concerns the conceptualisation of TQM that is contributing to ambiguity, as there are various definitions. The question of whether TQM supports innovation or not is, therefore, unsettled. The purpose of this paper was to compare Organisational Characteristics for Continuous Innovation (OCCI) in rapidly changing industries with key TQM Principles in order to discuss the relationship between TQM and continuous innovation. The OCCI used for the comparison have been generated through an empirical study of Google in combination with a literature review of research on continuous innovation in fast-changing environments. A comparison with the OCCI reveals that there are many similarities with TQM principles but also some distinct differences, for example, in terms of orientation towards innovation. While TQM has become closely related to process orientation, OCCI are more related to semi-structure and ambidexterity. The conclusion is that TQM needs to change in order to also support continuous innovation. In order for TQM to contribute both to continuous improvement and continuous innovations, a partly new management paradigm is needed. However, even if TQM is changed, the brand ‘TQM’ is still associated with ‘quality’ and ‘continuous improvement’. A re-branding strategy might, therefore, be necessary.

Occupations and Ageing at Work - An Analysis of the Findings of the Fifth European Working Conditions Survey

This working paper analyzes the data collected by the fifth European Working Conditions Survey done in 2010 to examine how working conditions are changing for different ages and occupation types. It brings insights into the quality of work and employment amongst ageing workers that help to inform the debate on how “sustainable” work is according to one’s age and occupation. The authors conclude that the wide range of situations and challenges faced by different occupations demand extreme caution as regards policies to extend working life for all older workers without distinction. This diversity must be factored into the arrangements made to deliver European policy goals of increasing the employment rates of older workers and raising the actual age of retirement. Moreover, the responsibility for improving working and employment conditions in the final career years also falls to employers and calls for innovative human resources management practices.

A pilot case study of open innovation in a Brazilian company

open innovation represents a powerful competitive aspect not only in developed countries but also in emerging economies. In this context, this paper aims at demonstrating some aspects of the introduction of an open innovation program in a company in Brazil. A unit of analysis that produces cosmetics was selected due to its practices of innovation management, which is considered as a benchmark in the country. Case-based research was used as the methodological approach. Data were collected mostly by document analysis but some questions were answered by electronic mail to construct a case description. The company performs activities related to scientific and technological as well as market knowledge. The organization applies the concept of open innovation since the 90's and has increased its activity since then. This paper describes the open innovation program and discusses aspects of drivers and success factors for external collaborations. Results show that an infra-structure for innovation in addition to the initiatives of open innovation support company performance. There are also multiple ways of collaborations such as cooperation, co-creation, co-design, services, consulting, financing, etc. Conclusively, the results have found ground to the existing literature in the subject at some extent.

Innovation in Innovation Management: The Experience of Petrobras Centers and Networks of Excellence Program

Since 1996, Petrobras – Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., the biggest company in Latin America, has supported the development of a method to structure networks of partnerships called Centers and Networks of Excellence Practice (PCREX). It aims to support the establishment of centers and networks of excellence in areas in which innovation depends heavily on the articulation of various players from outside the company and different internal areas. This article presents the results of the analysis of the PCREX method, including its characterization and field research carried out in eight Centers and Networks of Excellence developed by Petrobras. The field research and subsequent analysis helped identify (i) the alignment between the PCREX method and the best innovation management practices and (ii) the difficulties faced by new management models based on resource and knowledge sharing, which highlights that organizational innovations need to be able to count on strong institutional support to succeed.

Corporate culture and the adverse impact of cultural differences on technology transfer

This study aims to determine the mechanism through which corporate culture produces potential advantages by efficiently minimising the impact of cultural differences on technology transfer performance. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM) multigroup analysis are used to analyse structured survey data from 223 Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries in Vietnam. The results indicate that when a company places greater value on learning, encouraging staff to participate in the decision-making process, transmitting accurate and timely internal and external information about business operations, accepting risk, promoting cooperation, and readily offering help, it achieves efficient technology transfer with reduced negative impact from cultural differences during the implementation process. These findings could offer insights to address the intracultural, intercultural, and transcultural innovation management practice issues faced by local and international executives.

Applying innovative food cost management practices in inflationary times

PurposeIn the Indian context with an extended phase of high food inflation impacting the hospitality sector, there is a need for coping mechanisms to protect the business bottom line and maintain revenue growth. This need is even more pronounced within the budget restaurant segment. There is limited research that identifies the approach and innovative practices that food and beverage profit centers (hotels and restaurants) can deploy to handle the impact of the identified macroeconomic variable. The purpose of this paper is to probe the general approach and innovation that the budget segment may have used to survive the impact of a sustained increase in prices of food products and related raw materials.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach is adopted for this investigation, through a mix of in‐person or telephone interviews with operating managers (F&B manager, restaurant manager and chefs). The feedback from these sources provides an understanding of the responses of the budget segment to the stated issue of inflation in food products. The qualitative approach generates a spectrum of responses that helps to document some of the best practices that yielded good results, allowing the broader segment to emulate the same.FindingsThe research helps owners and operators to draw from innovative practices and approaches used to deliver improved fiscal performance in terms of managing food cost, without adversely impacting customer experience and overall business profitability.Research limitations/implicationsThere was a possibility that no clear indicators would emerge from the feedback, nonetheless the experiences that are documented through this research open doors for further research into innovative practices in managing food and beverage costs for improved profitability.Practical implicationsThe budget food and beverage sector in the Indian context has been dealing with high inflation of 14 ‐ 18 per cent on the supply side. A mix of strategic choices including passing the additional cost to end users, compromises in the form of diluting product quality or quantity (portion size) or unique process changes are also possible responses.Originality/valueThis paper lists best practices and also evaluates if there is any commonality emerging from the segment in terms of the “right approach” to manage food cost under prevailing inflationary conditions.

Effects of field managements for soil organic matter stabilization on water-stable aggregate distribution and aggregate stability in three agricultural soils

The effect of different soil organic matter (SOM) managements on soil aggregate stability was evaluated in three agricultural sites in Italy. The field plots were treated with traditional deep tillage, minimum tillage, green manuring, mature compost, and iron-porphyrin as a biomimetic catalyst. Although the original soil texture exerted a strong influence on the overall soil physical quality, after 3years of field experiments, the soil additions with humified compost, under maize cropping, improved both, the yield of water stable macroaggregates and the soil aggregate stability, with a pronounced effect on the aggregate distribution of the coarse textured soil. Soil treatments with the biomimetic catalyst, under wheat cropping, promoted an initial stable incorporation of finer particle-sizes in water-stable macro-aggregates. This effect was progressively lost with increasing experimental time due to either loss or inactivation of the catalyst. Innovative management practices for SOM stabilization based on soil amendment of either humified mature compost or a water-soluble catalyst to promote in-situ photopolymerization of humic molecules, were found to improve distribution and stability of soil water stable aggregates, as compared to the conventional methods of SOM management.

The Artistry of Practice or the Practice of Artistry

This article is an autoethnographic perspective on innovative management practice in the U.K. business school context. Business schools, in general, have long been criticized for their “formulaic” and “irrelevant” approach to management education. The authors take the position that the alternative model of management education that addresses the criticisms of business schools is the practice-based model, most well articulated by Mintzberg. This practice-based view formed the basis of a new vision for their case study organization (a leading U.K. business school) that they set out to embed in the organization and its space through the use of wall art. Recognizing the role played by art, design, and creativity in management, the authors reflect on their use of wall art as part of an approach to embedding a new business school vision, offering the lessons that can be drawn for further application of this practice within other business school contexts.

Investigating innovation management practices in Iranian organizations

The aim of this study is threefold. First to explore the extent to which innovation practices and activities are implemented in Iranian organizations. Second, given special conditions of Iran to find out what factors currently form the main drivers and barriers to innovation in Iranian organizations. Third, to survey if there is any relationship between innovation practices and organizational performance of Iranian organizations mainly based on a descriptive analysis. Based on the review of literature of innovation practices, drivers and barriers of successful implementation to innovation practices were identified. Through a self-administered questionnaire which was collected from 87 Iranian organizations the extent of innovation practices implementation and their rankings in the surveyed organizations were determined. Analysis of data and the obtained results revealed that opening of new domestic target groups is the most frequently practice of innovation. Also, customer centricity and organizational structure and bureaucratic and excessive administrative regulations were ranked as the main driver and barrier of innovation implementation respectively. Finally, the result of chi-square test showed that the implementation of innovation practices is positively and significantly related to organizational performance of Iranian organizations.

Trends and challenges toward efficient water management in nuclear power plants

Abstract Nuclear power plants (NPPs) consume large amounts of water varying between 20% and 83% more than coal-fired plants of the same capacity. Water scarcity could limit the possibility for deployment of nuclear power plants in some areas. This translates to a huge incentive to enhance the efforts for introducing innovative water use and management practices and technologies related to design, construction and operation of a nuclear power plant. Reducing the water use and consumption for nuclear power plants is likely to help developing countries in introducing nuclear power in their energy supply mix. The bulk of the countries considering introduction of nuclear power are in water scarce regions. Hence, efficient water management in nuclear power plants is an important subject during the entire phases of construction, operation and maintenance of any nuclear power plant. This paper discusses global challenges for cooling systems as the need for nuclear power increases. The issues and possible solutions for these cooling systems are also addressed.

Investigating innovation management practices in Iranian organizations

Investigating innovation management practices in Iranian organizations

Assessing the potential of SRI management principles and the FFS approach in Northeast Thailand for sustainable rice intensification in the context of climate change

The paper describes the facilitated learning process of farmers, its results and implications in addressing the low productivity of Jasmine rice in northeast Thailand using the SRI-FFS approach in a collaborative action research. Other involved included rice traders, millers, researchers, government and non-governmental organizations. Working through an inclusive process of dialogue, observation, diagnosis, experimentation and exposure to different types of innovative agronomic crop management (IACM) practices resulting from the SRI–FFS approach, participants made a thorough analysis of the current management practices and evaluated various IACM practices for their productivity and profitability. The results confirmed the potential of IACM in enhancing crop and water productivity along with soil fertility with relatively low input-use (seed, water and fertilizers) and higher net farm-income compared to existing crop management practices. However, factors such as (i) the age of the farmers and (ii) off-farm employment opportunity are key drivers that affect the crop management decision-making process. Therefore, exploration of value-added production alternatives and favourable policies is required to sustain IACM that can benefit farmers, consumers and the environment. The participation of policy-makers at the action research continuum is essential for effective follow up, scaling up and sustainability of such environmentally sound practices.

An empirical study of the influence of intensity of competition on the deployment of contemporary management accounting practices and managerial techniques in Egyptian firms

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of managers’ perception of the importance of aspects of competition on levels of deployment of contemporary management accounting practices (CMAPs) and analyzing that impact on levels of implementation of innovative managerial practices (IMP) and advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) in use in Egyptian manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approachA survey of manufacturing firms operating in the three biggest industrial areas in Egypt was carried out in 2005. Data were collected through interviews, using structured questionnaire forms, which were carried out with managers of the surveyed firms.FindingsThe research findings indicate that within the six aspects, quality came first in ranking, followed by customer service and delivery, second and third, then innovation, price and flexibility respectively. Interestingly, respondents rank highly the importance of all aspects of competition included. Findings also show high levels of implementation of CMAPs and IMPs in the surveyed firms, while levels of implementation of CMTs are found to be below average.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the knowledge of contemporary management accounting practices and managerial techniques in Egyptian firms.

Individual learning, ideation and innovation management - discussion paper seen from innovation management practices

This paper discusses that the hitherto applied practice in innovation projects has a fundamental fallacy to it which can inhibit ideation capabilities and thus the creation of new businesses (Chesbrough et al., 2006; Christensen, 2003). In consequence, this paper elaborates on three key themes which potentially can reduce the gap between creativity and innovation. The themes are as follows: 1 ideation and innovation processes should be managed as two separated operations in practice 2 awareness about individual learning and learning styles ameliorate cooperation and communication in the processes 3 the cognitive domain of personal knowledge is important to articulate to clarify the validity of the arguments used in both the ideation and innovation processes. The author puts it into hypothesis that the quality of the ideation processes and the results of these processes will be improved radically.

Implications of I Ching on innovation management

PurposeThe discriminative thinking that Chinese entrepreneurs are weak in innovations is widespread. But market competition, which is the main drive for innovations, has been introduced to post‐planning‐economy China for only 30 years or so, and China has only ten years' experience in modern global competition after her entry into the WTO in 2001. Who can say China will not be as innovative as today's advanced counterparts? The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible internal consistencies between one traditional Chinese philosophy, I Ching and modern Western innovation management science. The authors also empirically test the relations between I Ching tradition and innovation performances using cross country data.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors textually analyzed the consistencies between the book of I Ching and Western innovation management principles, then with that in mind collected cross‐country panel data and tested the hypotheses empirically.FindingsIt is found that the philosophies embedded in I Ching could be applied to Western innovation management practices, and cross‐country empirical analysis shows that countries with I Ching tradition achieve better innovation performances, ceteris paribus.Research limitations/implicationsMacro country‐level data were used to test the hypotheses instead of using micro firm‐level survey data. Because the macro data were not collected purposefully for this research, i.e. the authors only borrowed rather than collected the data, perhaps the persuasiveness of the empirical results will be weakened. The authors' future researches in this regard will be based on survey data.Practical implicationsChinese entrepreneurs should have the confidence that Chinese ancient wisdoms are their strength rather than weakness in innovation activities.Originality/valueThe paper is pioneering in consciously combining I Ching philosophy with Western innovation management sciences. With this kind of synthesis, the paper constitutes a Chinese friendly road map for entrepreneurs to build innovation organizations.

Supply chain innovation and organizational performance in the healthcare industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine supply chain (SC) innovation for improving organisational performance in the healthcare industry.Design/methodology/approachA research model is proposed which describes the impact of SC innovation, supplier cooperation, SC efficiency, and quality management (QM) practices on organisational performance. The proposed research model and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling based on data collected from 243 hospitals.FindingsThe results of the study support that organisational performance is positively associated with constructs of each SC innovation factor. Innovative design of SC has a significant impact on selection of and cooperation with excellent suppliers, improved SC efficiency, and encouragement of QM practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe data used in this study were collected from relatively large hospitals with more than 100 beds in South Korea. The generalization of the study results may be limited by the size of sample hospitals.Originality/valueThis study provides useful planning information in the healthcare industry. The results suggest successful implementation of SC management is attained through continuous SC innovation with supplier cooperation, which in turn improves organisational performance.

English

  Contrary to popular belief which sees the government as reactive and resistant to change, the increasing emergence of innovative ideas particularly in the field of local services yielded a wide range of interactions. This was due to address new policy challenges, improve productivity, better serve and more fully engage a changing citizenry. Practicing new ideas triggered more innovativeness. The paradigm of NPM and later the phenomenon of e-government are well studied. However, the relationship among innovative management practices and their impact on e-government performances require a deeper understanding. Thus, our paper seeks to shed some light on this issue by exploring what type of local services were transformed online and at what level. Then, in accordance with the organizational dynamics of innovation, we developed hypotheses to inquire the impact of innovative management practices on local e-government performance of Turkish provinces. Mann-Whitney U statistics were carried out to find out which of the groups that were statistically significant different from one another. The results indicated significant findings. The provincial local governments which adopted innovative management practices tend to have higher local e-government performances.   Key words: Local e-governments, Turkish provinces, new public management, public innovation, Turkey.