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Senior Managers (senior + managers)
Selected AbstractsTesting the "Inverted-U" Phenomenon in Moral Development on Recently Promoted Senior Managers and Partners,CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 2 2004RICHARD A. BERNARDI Abstract This paper examines the change in the average level of moral development over a 7.5-year period of promotion, attrition, and survival in five Big 6 firms. The study improves upon previous cross-sectional studies that found decreases in the average level of moral development at the senior manager and partner levels, which has been referred to as the "inverted-U" phenomenon. Problems with these studies that limit the generalizability of their findings include their cross-sectional nature and samples that usually come from one or two firms. Over a 7.5-year period, we found that the participating Big 6 firms retained auditors with higher average levels of moral development (measured using the defining issues test), while those with lower average levels left the firms. The average level of moral development for new partners was at least as high as the group from which they came. This research suggests that the concern about Big 6 firms retaining a higher proportion of auditors with lower moral development may be an artifact of research design. [source] IT: What's the impact of IFRS?JOURNAL OF CORPORATE ACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 5 2010Royce D. Burnett Everyone is anticipating the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) in the United States. But companies are slowly beginning to realize that conversion to IFRSs will require some complicated, far-reaching changes for firms' information technology (IT) systems. In fact, this may be more costly and disruptive than Y2K and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act combined! Senior managers will need a solid understanding of IFRSs and a workable plan to deal with the conversion process for IT. This article provides guidance for both those challenges. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The 2004 Madrid train bombings: an analysis of pre-hospital managementDISASTERS, Issue 1 2008Alejandro López Carresi The terrorist train bombings in Madrid, Spain, on 11 March 2004 triggered a swift and massive medical response., This paper analyses the pre-hospital response to the attacks to gain insight into current trends in disaster management among Madrid's Emergency Medical Services (EMSs). To this end, the existing emergency planning framework is described, the basic structures of the different EMSs are presented, and the attacks are briefly depicted before consideration is given to pre-hospital management. Finally, an explanation of the main underlying misconceptions in emergency planning and management in Madrid is provided to aid understanding of the origins of some of the problems detected during the response. These are attributable mainly to inappropriate planning rather than to mistakes in field-level decision-making. By contrast, many of the successes are attributable to individual initiatives by frontline medics who compensated for the lack of clear command by senior managers by making adaptive and flexible decisions. [source] Distorted Views Through the Glass Ceiling: The Construction of Women's Understandings of Promotion and Senior Management PositionsGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 1 2001Sonia Liff The article explores the issue of whether women's under-representation in senior management positions can be explained in part by the messages they are given about the promotion process and the requirements of senior jobs. Through interviews with over 50 male and female junior and senior managers in a UK high street bank, issues relating to the required personality and behaviour characteristics seen to be associated with success and with the long hours culture emerged as important. In many cases men and women identified the same issues but the significance of them for their own decision-making and the way others interpreted their behaviour varied , particularly in relation to the perceived incompatibility between active parenting and senior roles. The findings provide an account of the context in which women make career choices which highlights the limitations of analyses which see women's absence as the result either of procedural discrimination or women's primary orientation towards home and family. The findings also highlight the problems of treating commitments towards gender equality as an isolated issue and stress the importance of understanding responses to policies and ways of achieving change within the broader context of an analysis of the organization's culture. [source] University Strategy in an Age of Uncertainty: The Effect of Higher Education Funding on Old and New UniversitiesHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2003Heather RolfeArticle first published online: 27 OCT 200 This paper explores the effects of changes in funding arrangements, and particularly in tuition fees, on universities and their strategic responses to these changes. Using data from interviews with senior managers in four universities, it finds the most prestigious, pre-1992, university largely unaffected by tuition fees and the others responding to changes in application patterns and intake. However, the effects of tuition fees on university strategy are not easily separated from other changes in the funding of Higher Education, and universities' strategies were strongly influenced by the need to reduce costs and to generate income. A second major concern of all four universities was quality, both of inputs such as students and staff and of outputs, in degree results and ratings in employability, research, teaching and other activities. Marketing was assuming a position of increasing importance, with universities striving to develop a ,brand' to attract students, staff and funding. [source] Collaborative Research: Policy and the Management of Knowledge Creation in UK UniversitiesHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2001David Smith Collaboration in research activity is now the rule not the exception. It is encouraged by government, funding bodies and research councils. However, the concept of collaboration is difficult to define. It occurs at many different levels, driven by a complex research system-policy dynamic. Three different models of collaboration , inter-personal, team and corporate , are identified, each with their own rationale, structure, benefits and costs. The paper examines the institutional implications of these models. It argues that institutions and individual researchers conceptualise and operationalise research collaboration in different ways. Although vital to institutional mission, collaborative research is rarely mapped by senior managers with any precision. In general, institutional approaches to the management of collaborative research lag behind the policy rhetoric. The paper concludes with an overview of the key dilemmas for institutional strategists and policy makers posed by the shift towards more collaborative approaches to research. [source] The Origins, Forms and Effects of Modularisation and Semesterisation in Ten UK-Based Business SchoolsHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2000Huw Morris This paper examines the introduction of modularisation and semesterisation at ten UK-based business schools. Using this case study evidence, it is argued that the main reasons for the introduction of these schemes were the personal ambitions of senior managers, pressure from external regulatory agencies and a desire to emulate initiatives undertaken by competitor institutions. In addition, it is suggested that the form of these schemes varied between institutions as a consequence of the negotiations which accompanied the introduction of these new arrangements, and constraints imposed by the legacy of earlier degree structures, regulations from external agencies, institutional geography, limits on financial resources and the organization of internal management systems. The paper concludes by arguing that these constraints have meant that modularity has had limited effects on the experiences of staff and students, but that semesterisation has significantly increased costs without any accompanying benefits. [source] Factors influencing implementation of occupational safety and health management systems by enterprises in PolandHUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 3 2006Daniel Podgórski Implementing legal regulations in occupational safety and health (OSH) as well as other actions aimed at improving working conditions in industry in many countries run in parallel with promoting nonobligatory OSH management systems (OSH MS). To define a scientific basis for working out a set of guidelines for promoting OSH MS, a survey was conducted in 40 companies. This research aimed to identify motivational factors for decisions to introduce OSH MS. Four groups of professionals who participated in the decision-making process related to implementing OSH MS were interviewed: (a) the most senior managers of the enterprise, (b) representatives of top management for implementation and maintenance of OSH MS, (c) safety and health managers, and (d) workers' safety representatives. The results indicate the need for: (1) improving the efficiency of programs promoting implementation of OSH MS; (2) considering the role of economic incentives in promoting these systems; (3) developing and promoting training packages related to OSH management, adjusted particularly to the needs of employees and their representatives to increase their involvement in OSH activities; and (4) modifying legal solutions establishing a system of differentiated premium rates for social insurance against occupational accidents and diseases. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 16: 255,267, 2006. [source] Managerial characteristics and willingness to send employees on expatriate assignmentsHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2009George S. Benson Abstract This paper examines the characteristics of managers that influence their willingness to send employees on expatriate assignments. Data from 336 senior managers in a major U.S. professional services firm indicate that managers who are higher up in the organizational hierarchy are more willing to send employees on expatriate assignments. In addition, our findings show that managers who have more extensive international experience are more inclined to send employees on such assignments and that managers with expatriate experience themselves are much more willing to send their employees overseas, regardless of whether they currently work with international clients. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Contextual factors in the success of reduced-load work arrangements among managers and professionalsHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2002Mary Dean Lee The purpose of this study was to consider the role of contextual factors, particularly those related to HR policies and practices, in the success of eighty-two professionals and managers working on a reduced-load basis. Results revealed agreement among senior managers, coworkers, direct reports, and reduced-load managers and professionals themselves that the alternative work arrangements were successful. The key factors seen as facilitating success included individual characteristics and behaviors as well as contextual factors related to job content, work group, organizational culture, and human-resource policies and practices. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Lost in translation: exploring the link between HRM and performance in healthcareHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2007Timothy Bartram Using data collected in 2004 from 132 Victorian (Australia) public healthcare providers, comprising metropolitan and regional hospital networks, rural hospitals and community health centres, we investigated the perceptions of HRM from the experiences of chief executive officers, HR directors and other senior managers. We found some evidence that managers in healthcare organisations reported different perceptions of strategic HRM and a limited focus on collection and linking of HR performance data with organisational performance management processes. Using multiple moderator regression and multivariate analysis of variance, significant differences were found in perceptions of strategic HRM and HR priorities between chief executive officers, HR directors and other senior managers in the large organisations. This suggested that the strategic human management paradigm is ,lost in translation', particularly in large organisations, and consequently opportunities to understand and develop the link between people management practices and improved organisational outcomes may be missed. There is some support for the relationship between strategic HRM and improved organisational outcomes. Implications of these findings are drawn for managerial practice. [source] Closing the circle: participant views of a 360 degree feedback programmeHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2001Christopher Mabey The use of 360 degree feedback is becoming increasingly commonplace in organisations. It is claimed that this programme offers a more rounded diagnosis of development needs resulting in more effective development plans for individuals and more strategically focused investment in training for the organisation as a whole. These claims are tested in a qualitative and quantitative field study of participants in a 360 degree programme for middle and senior managers at a UK university. Some elements of the programme are found to work better than others, but participants rate their experience of almost all aspects of training and development as significantly better than a matched sample of non-participants, and this leads to more positive global evaluations of the employer. The implications for the use of 360 degree programmes are discussed with regard to the critical HRM literature. [source] The management of managers: A review and conceptual frameworkINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 2 2007Peter Boxall The management of managers is an important contemporary concern, but the literature on the issue is not well integrated. This paper reviews key sources on the topic across organizational economics, human resource development and strategic human resource management. It presents a novel interdisciplinary framework for analysing how firms manage senior managers and for guiding future research, arguing that firms adopt different styles to attract,defend, develop,renew and motivate,harvest their senior managerial resource, depending on their contexts and choices that are made in the firm over time. The notion that some styles draw on early identification of élites while others treat management identification as more of an emergent problem is central to the typology. Within each of the styles identified, effectiveness in the management of managers hinges on recognizing and handling certain strategic tensions and problems. [source] Charity shops in sectoral contexts: the view from the boardroomINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 2 2000Richard Goodall Charity shops seem inherently contradictory in many ways. This paper unravels some of the contradictions by analysing charity shops in their ,sectoral contexts'. First it puts forward different meanings of ,sector' and introduces notions of ,sector values'. Then it presents results from empirical research into UK charity shop organisations, to show how senior managers of charity shop chains deal with ,sectoral contradictions'. Finally, it asks how the sectoral contexts influence the management philosophies and marketing strategies (in the broadest sense) of these senior managers. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications [source] ,It's the identification, stupid': profiling senior public service managers for training and developmentINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2002Gambhir Bhatta A review of practices of senior management development across the upper echelons of the public services of major jurisdictions shows that while the need to develop leaders is universally recognised by governments, there are still considerable gaps in the development function. One of the key gaps the article argues that is central to the training and development function is that of identification and targeting of individuals. A profiling protocol is presented that is argued could be an appropriate tool for governments to consider as they seek to link the desired competencies with the career aspirations of their public service senior managers. [source] Corporate Portfolio Management RoundtableJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 2 2008Article first published online: 16 JUL 200 The dean of a top ten business school, the chair of a large investment management firm, two corporate M&A leaders, a CFO, a leading M&A investment banker, and a corporate finance advisor discuss the following questions: ,What are today's best practices in corporate portfolio management? What roles should be played by boards, senior managers, and business unit leaders? ,What are the typical barriers to successful implementation and how can they be overcome? ,Should portfolio management be linked to financial policies such as decisions on capital structure, dividends, and share repurchase? ,How should all of the above be disclosed to the investor community? After acknowledging the considerable challenges to optimal portfolio management in public companies, the panelists offer suggestions that include: ,Companies should establish an independent group that functions like a "SWAT team" to support portfolio management. Such groups would be given access to (or produce themselves) business-unit level data on economic returns and capital employed, and develop an "outside-in" view of each business's standalone valuation. ,Boards should consider using their annual strategy "off-sites" to explore all possible alternatives for driving share-holder value, including organic growth, divestitures and acquisitions, as well as changes in dividends, share repurchases, and capital structure. ,Performance measurement and compensation frameworks need to be revamped to encourage line managers to think more like investors, not only seeking value-creating growth but also making divestitures at the right time. CEOs and CFOs should take the lead in developing a shared value creation model that clearly articulates how capital will be allocated. [source] The Development of Corporate Identity: A Political PerspectiveJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 5 2008Suzana Rodrigues abstract A corporate identity denotes a set of attributes that senior managers ascribe to their organization. It is therefore an organizational identity articulated by a powerful interest group. It can constitute a claim which serves inter alia to justify the authority vested in top managers and to further their interests. The academic literature on organizational identity, and on corporate identity in particular, pays little attention to these political considerations. It focuses in an apolitical manner on shared meanings when corporate identity works, or on cognitive dissonance when it breaks down. In response to this analytical void, we develop a political analysis of corporate identity and its development, using as illustration a longitudinal study of successive changes in the corporate identity of a Brazilian telecommunications company. This suggests a cyclical model in which corporate identity definition and redefinition involve power relations, resource mobilization and struggles for legitimacy. [source] Valuing ,voices from below'JOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2002DipPsych, HON MFPHM, Jean Faugier RMN The publication of Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) reports in recent years have revealed that employees attempted to blow the whistle on abuse, corruption or malpractice but were largely ignored by senior members of staff. The CHI report into the North Lakeland National Health Service (NHS) Trust (November 2000), for instance, states that an initial failure among management to listen to the concerns of student nurses led to the sustained abuse of patients. To protect patients from incompetent and unethical practitioners and improve standards of care, an environment needs to be created where health care professionals feel able to express legitimate concerns openly and honestly to senior staff, safe in the knowledge that senior managers will take their concerns seriously and act accordingly. The government has pledged to create an ,open culture' in the NHS to encourage staff with genuine concerns to speak out. This can only be achieved if the current leadership culture characterized by conflict avoidance, blame and hierarchical control is replaced with openness and accountability. To produce the desired changes in culture and attitudes, the NHS needs strong leaders capable of challenging the existing social equilibrium. [source] Work stress: an exploratory study of the practices and perceptions of female junior healthcare managersJOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2002K. Rodham BSc(HONS) Aim:, This exploratory study set out to investigate the perceptions and practices of junior healthcare managers with regard to stress at work. Background:, It has been suggested that cultural change is needed to accommodate a shift towards recognition of organizational responsibility for stress (Schulz et al. 1985). Logically, it can be argued that junior healthcare managers, as potential future senior managers, are best placed to facilitate this change. Junior healthcare managers' current thinking about stress had not yet been explored in depth. Method:, A combination of critical incident diaries and semistructured interviews was conducted with six junior healthcare managers. The data were analysed and transcribed using a grounded theory approach. Findings:, The main themes to emerge were that junior healthcare managers were generally unaware of (a) potential work stressors and (b) the effect of work stressors on their own health and performance and that of their staff. Conclusions:, The perceptions and practices of junior healthcare managers suggest that there is a culture of acceptance and expectation of work stress, combined with a lack of awareness to effectively and proactively manage it. [source] Ethnography and the ethics of undertaking research in different mental healthcare settingsJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2010H. ALLBUTT rgn ba msc phd Accessible summary ,,We report our experiences of seeking regulatory approval to undertake a qualitative research study using observation and interviews in three different mental healthcare settings. ,,All users of mental health services are classified as ,vulnerable' research participants by UK regulatory research systems. We argue that this is both disempowering to users and also at odds with current health care policy to promote service user involvement in research processes. ,,Access to mental healthcare sites was difficult in spite of agreement by senior area managers. Front-line team leaders acted as gatekeepers to influence which service users could be approached to take part in the study. This type of intervention may bias research samples and dilute the knowledge claims researchers can make from research undertaken in practice settings. Abstract This paper draws on our experiences of seeking research ethics and management approval for a 1-year ethnographic research study in three mental health settings. We argue that the increased bureaucratization of research governance in the UK is paternalistic and unfit for qualitative, non-interventionist study designs. The classification of all mental health services users as ,vulnerable' is also disempowering and contrary to government calls to increase user involvement in research processes. We relate our difficulties in accessing National Health Service sites to undertake our study despite endorsement by senior managers. The current research ethics system reinforces the gatekeeping role of front-line National Health Service staff but this may work to bias samples in favour of ,amenable' service users and exclude others from having their views and experiences represented in studies over the long-term. [source] Partnership Sourcing: An Organization Change Management PerspectiveJOURNAL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2000Ronan McIvor SUMMARY This article highlights the organization change implications for organizations that are attempting to develop collaborative relationships with their suppliers. The research focuses on four dimensions of collaborative relations including joint buyer-supplier cost reduction, supplier involvement in new product development, delivery and logistics management, and core business strategy. A case study is presented which outlines how an organization adopted a strategy that led to extensive outsourcing and the adoption of more collaborative relations with its key suppliers. The pursuit of this strategy has acted as a stimulus for change within the organization. The article identifies a number of issues that must be addressed, including the adoption of an integrated approach to the management of strategic change, the pivotal role of senior managers as facilitators of this change, and the involvement of those most affected by the movement toward more collaborative buyer-supplier relationships. [source] Strategic processes @ Nike,making and doing knowledge managementKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 1 2008George Stonehouse This paper contrasts theory with practice through a case study of strategic processes of knowledge management (KM) at Nike Incorporated. From its origins as a small specialist enterprise in 1972 to a multi-billion dollar global brand, the corporation has been continuously at the forefront of developments in management practice and business innovation. This case study has been compiled from interviews with senior managers and numerous secondary sources. The paper begins with a discussion of an insider perspective on the trajectory of the organization in terms of its strategic goals and decisions on markets, customers, products, services and business processes. It then goes on to explore and critique the dynamic interplay of the processes of strategizing, learning, creativity and innovation at Nike as the basis for its knowledge-based competitive advantage (CA). The case thus represents KM as a unique combination of processes in which learning; strategy and creativity are organized and strategically embedded within a large global organization. This has implications for future theorizing in KM, which, as we illustrate in this paper, demands a more integrative approach to research and practice. One of the key lessons for practice is that span of activity, as well as strategy, will influence the relationship between strategizing, organizing and learning and this interplay determines the success (or failure) of KM. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Developing a sustainable culture of innovation management: a prescriptive approachKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 3 2005Mohamed Zairi This paper proposes an approach to innovation management, which produces seamlessness, unleashes full creative potential, integrates activities, delivers superior performance, and builds a sustainable culture. At the heart of World Class innovation is the role of senior management. This paper argues that senior managers have to exercise interest and commitment to innovation activity and have to play a more transparent role in nurturing the development of a sustainable innovation culture. Other critical aspects found through comprehensive research to be inherent factors and key triggers of success are also covered in this paper with prescriptive steps that can help in the establishment of sustainable innovation activity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Organizational culture as a hidden resourceNEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, Issue 144 2008Dennis McGrath This chapter illustrates how culture can serve as a resource to better support and assist at-risk students and offers recommendations for the development of culturally sensitive institutions through professional development for faculty, staff, and senior managers. [source] CAN WORKING WITH AN EXECUTIVE COACH IMPROVE MULTISOURCE FEEDBACK RATINGS OVER TIME?PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2003A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL FIELD STUDY This study examined the effects of executive coaching on multisource feedback over time. Participants were 1,361 senior managers who received multisource feedback; 404 of these senior managers worked with an executive coach (EC) to review their feedback and set goals. One year later, 1,202 senior managers (88% of the original sample) received multisource feedback from another survey. Managers who worked with an EC were more likely than other managers to set specific (rather than vague) goals (d= .16) and to solicit ideas for improvement from their supervisors (d= .36). Managers who worked with an EC improved more than other managers in terms of direct report and supervisor ratings, however, the effect size (d= .17) was small. [source] Mystery shopping: Using deception to measure service performancePSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 7 2001Alan M. Wilson This article reports on a program of exploratory research aimed at examining the practice of mystery shopping in service organizations. Mystery shopping, a form of participant observation, uses researchers to deceive customer service personnel into believing that they are serving real customers or potential customers. The research focused on the views of senior managers responsible for commissioning mystery shopping research and directors of market research agencies responsible for the provision of such research. The research findings identify the manner in which mystery shopping is used and the methods used to maximize the reliability of the technique. The study also revealed that employees' acceptance of this form of deception appears to be critical if the results are to be taken seriously by service personnel and if industrial relations within the organization are not to suffer. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] DOES POLITICAL CHANGE AFFECT SENIOR MANAGEMENT TURNOVER?PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2010AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF TOP-TIER LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND In many political systems the political neutrality of senior managers' tenure is often cherished as a key part of the politics-administration dichotomy and is subject to formal safeguards. We test hypotheses about the impact of political change on senior management turnover drawn from political science, public administration and private sector management theory. Using panel data to control for unobserved heterogeneity between authorities, we find that changes in political party control and low organizational performance have both separate and joint positive effects on the turnover rate of senior managers. By contrast, the most senior manager, the chief executive, is more sheltered: the likelihood of a chief executive succession is higher only when party change and low performance occur together. Thus the arrival of a new ruling party reduces the tenure of senior managers, but chief executives are vulnerable to political change only when performance is perceived as weak. [source] An Organizational Echelon Analysis of the Determinants of Red Tape in Public OrganizationsPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 6 2008Richard M. Walker This article adopts an organizational echelon approach to the study of red tape in public organizations and argues that the nature and extent of red tape will vary at different levels of the organizational hierarchy. These propositions are tested with a multiple-informant survey using a lagged model. The empirical results across the three organizational echelons sampled indicate modest variations in the levels of perceived red tape and major variations in its determinants. Results from the more senior managers uphold prior research findings and hypotheses on the determinants of red tape. This is not surprising because earlier studies typically sampled senior executives. Yet the lower down the organizational hierarchy one travels, the more red tape officials perceive and the more multifaceted the findings on determinants become. The authors conclude that prior empirical work is likely to have underestimated the extent of red tape in public organizations, and oversimplified its determinants. The implications for theory and practice are discussed. [source] Innovative versus incremental new business services: Different keys for achieving successTHE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2001Ulrike de Brentani In companies where new product development plays an important strategic role, managers necessarily contend with a portfolio of projects that range from high technology, new-to-the-world, innovations to relatively simple improvements, adaptations, line extensions, or imitations of competitive offerings. Recent studies indicate that achieving successful outcomes for projects that differ radically in terms of innovativeness requires that firms adjust their NPD practices in line with the type of new product project they are developing. Based on a large-scale survey of managers knowledgeable about new product development in their firm, this study focuses on new business-to-business service projects in an attempt to gain insights about the influence of product innovativeness on the factors that are linked to new service success and failure. The research results indicate that there are a small number of "global" success factors which appear to govern the outcome of new service ventures, regardless of their degree of newness. These include: ensuring an excellent customer/need fit, involving expert front line personnel in creating the new service and in helping customers appreciate its distinctiveness and benefits, and implementing a formal and planned launch program for the new service offering. Several other factors, however, were found to play a more distinctive role in the outcome of new service ventures, depending on how really new or innovative the new service was. For low innovativeness new business services, the results suggest that managers can enhance performance by: leveraging the firm's unique competencies, experiences and reputation through the introduction of new services that have a strong corporate fit; installing a formal "stage-gate" new service development system, particularly at the front-end and during the design stage of the development process; and ensuring that efforts to differentiate services from competitive or past offerings do not lead to high cost or unnecessarily complex service offerings. For new-to-the-world business services, the primary distinguishing feature impacting performance is the corporate culture of the firm: one that encourages entrepreneurship and creativity, and that actively involves senior managers in the role of visionary and mentor for new service development. In addition, good market potential and marketing tactics that offset the intangibility of "really new" service concepts appear to have a positive performance effect. [source] How integrating industrial design in the product development process impacts on company performanceTHE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2001Gerda Gemser There is a growing belief that investing in industrial design is beneficial to company performance. This article sheds more light on how and when integrating industrial design in the product development process can enhance a company's competitive position. The basic premise is that the impact of industrial design on company performance is not unconditional, but dependent on industry evolution and design strategy. We opted to define industrial design in a general way, namely as the activity that transforms a set of product requirements into a configuration of materials, elements and components. This activity can have an impact on a product's appearance, user friendliness, ease of manufacture, efficient use of materials, functional performance, and so on. The empirical data incorporated in this study stems from two Dutch manufacturing industries, namely home furniture and precision instruments. Home furniture and precision instruments were selected because the strategy of integrating industrial design in the product development process is rather mature in the first-named industry and emerging in the second. We collected data from firms investing considerably in industrial design (n = 23) and firms investing little to nothing in industrial design (n = 24), using a semistructured questionnaire that was administrated during face-to-face sessions with senior managers. Two out of the three research hypotheses were supported. It was found that the extent to which firms integrate industrial design in new product development projects has a significant and positive influence on company performance (Hla), in particular when the strategy of investing in industrial design is relatively new for the industry involved (Hlb). There was no systematic pattern indicating that design innovation is more important in industries where the use of design is mature than in industries where the use of design is emerging (H2). Instead, we found that design innovation has significant positive performance effects in both types of industries. One important managerial inference from our study is that new product development managers should consider the changing nature of competition during industry evolution while developing strategies that encompass the use of industrial design in new product development. Another important managerial inference is that, besides being innovative in the field of products, being innovative with respect to design and design strategy can help to enhance competitiveness regardless of industry evolution. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||