The resources that customers have and are able to contribute or utilize may influence, shape, and determine the support that they receive from service providers. Yet, there is limited knowledge on ...the types of resources customers bring into the service process, that is, customer resource endowments and deficiencies, and how these relate to the service offered by providers. This study thus investigates the interplay and mobilization of specific resources between the customer and the service provider. Drawing on data from two online surveys in the financial planning and health-care contexts, the results demonstrate the fit between customer competencies measured in terms of sense of ownership, personal commitment, time availability, perceived complexity of situation, service-related skills, education, risk tolerance, and economic resources and the various service provider styles for value cocreation. Specifically, the discriminant maps show that service provider styles can best be differentiated not on the basis of a particular type of resource (i.e., physical, cultural, or economic) but rather according to a constellation of customer resource endowments and deficiencies. The insights provide unique opportunities for organizations to tailor support to customers’ resources and thus enhance value cocreation efforts.
University-business cooperation has risen to one of the top priorities for many higher education institutions, with its importance mirroring attention from scholars and policy makers worldwide. ...Despite prolific research in this area, however, few have investigated curriculum-related university-business cooperation or its facilitators. Hence, this study investigates five mechanisms as drivers of business engagement in the design and delivery of the curriculum and the alignment of the curriculum with business needs. Results of a European-wide survey of higher education institution managers show the positive impact of senior management engagement, alumni networks and external communication of university-business cooperation, particularly on business engagement in curriculum design and the curriculum meeting industry needs. The higher education institution's dedication of resources emerged as irrelevant in this context. The conceptual model is validated across higher education institutions with different levels of curriculum-related cooperation with business and across three countries, leading to implications for management and future research directions.(HRK / Abstract übernomen)
University–industry linkages (UILs) offer an array of benefits for the parties involved and the economy at large; however, research provides limited theoretical development and practical advice on ...successfully managing UILs from initial negotiations to project completion and beyond. This paper, thus, empirically investigates the impact of relational success factors (communication, trust, understanding, individuals) on UIL performance across three phases of evolution, accounting for the changing manifestations of these factors over time. Communication emerged as a consistent predictor of success, with positive interrelationships between individuals advancing all relational success factors across all phases. A positive effect of trust and understanding, however, only emerged for some relationship phases. Results provide managers with insight into forms relational drivers take throughout long‐lasting successful UILs.
The evolution of university–industry linkages—A framework Plewa, Carolin; Korff, Nisha; Johnson, Claire ...
Journal of engineering and technology management,
January-March 2013, 2013-1-00, 20130101, Volume:
30, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This qualitative study extends literature on research commercialization by examining the dynamic nature of university–industry linkages (UIL). Thirty in-depth interviews conducted in Australia and ...Germany/the Netherlands provide evidence of the different phases through which UILs evolve and respective measures of success. Communication, understanding, trust, and people are universal drivers, yet managers must consider the variations in the nature of these factors to ensure successful UILs. This study equips managers involved in technology transfer, innovation, and commercialization with critical insights into developing effective relationships. The proposed conceptual framework also uncovers notable theoretical and managerial implications and offers some key research directions.
While organizations continue to face extensive pressure to introduce novel products to the market, the question of how customers initiate engagement with novel products remains unanswered. This ...article draws on the ecosystem perspective of engagement, utilizing the lens of actor engagement, to develop a conceptual framework for actor engagement with novel products. It elaborates our understanding of the indirect interaction that actors have with a focal object through other actors. It demonstrates that through vicarious learning, actors establish cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social interactions with the novel product. Further, it explicates a process in which legitimacy judgments, at the micro- and macrolevels, play a central role in facilitating and evaluating engagement with products. This framework offers an important contribution to theory by elucidating the facilitating role of learning and introducing the concept of legitimacy to the engagement literature. A set of propositions is presented, and a future research agenda proposed for each of these propositions.
Purpose - This paper aims to identify the differences between African and European students with regard to their entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes towards entrepreneurship, role models and ...entrepreneurial experience. It also aims to set the scene for future comparative research between developing and developed countries in the area of graduate entrepreneurship.Design methodology approach - A quantitative empirical research design was applied, using self-administered questionnaires. Questionnaires were distributed to first-year business students at universities in three African countries that are either developing (Uganda and Kenya) or emerging (South Africa) and four European developed nations (Finland, Germany, Ireland, and Portugal).Findings - The results indicate that students from developing emerging economies are more likely to envisage future careers as entrepreneurs and are more positive towards entrepreneurship than their industrialised European counterparts, even though motivators for employment self-employment are similar across the samples. The type of role models used and the extent of entrepreneurial experience varied between individual countries.Research limitations implications - Limitations include the use of a convenience sample and its restriction on the use of statistics, a single data collection point and a sample across seven countries on two continents.Practical implications - The results lead to universal and country-specific recommendations relating to the improvement of student-oriented entrepreneurship activities within universities.Originality value - The paper extends research on graduate entrepreneurship by providing an international comparison of entrepreneurship intentions, attitudes and experiences between developing emerging and developed nations, leading to suggestions on how to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and assist new-venture creations for students.
ABSTRACT
Sponsors increasingly shift from large professional to community‐based properties, as these can deliver an engaged audience and enable them to demonstrate their corporate social ...responsibility (CSR). This research comprises two studies and shows that community‐based sponsorship may improve CSR image and, in turn, self‐congruity, a key determinant of consumer behavior. Study 1 investigates perceived sponsor–club fit, confirming attitude and corporate positioning similarity as relevant predictors. Importantly, CSR image similarity does not impact fit, suggesting sponsorship opportunities for organizations independent of their initial CSR image. Study 2 shows perceived sponsor CSR image to mediate the relationship between the perceptions of a community‐based property's CSR image and consumers' self‐congruity with the sponsor. While perceived sponsor–club fit and sponsorship awareness moderate the relationship between property and sponsor CSR image, attitudes toward CSR moderate the association between sponsor CSR and self‐congruity. The paper concludes with implications and future research directions.
For university-business cooperation (UBC) to prosper, academics must be sufficiently motivated to undertake different collaborative activities and engage with businesses in various ways. Our ...understanding of the motivations that underpin academic engagement has improved, yet the inherent complexity and constellations of a multitude of relevant motivations remain unexplored. This research relies on a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, informed by self-determination theory, to identify and explain the constellations of motivations that encourage extensive academic engagement with business. The configurations of motivations reflect ribbon, gold, and puzzle forms, with the novel addition of prosocial motivations. Four different constellations of motivations emerge, each of which explains academic engagement in UBC: impact, inspiration, promotion, and distinction. The resulting theoretical and managerial contributions provide foundations for further research, by clarifying motivations as jointly driving academic engagement with business and emphasising the intrinsic rather than extrinsic nature of these motivations.
Research to date suggests that resource complementarity benefits business performance. Yet the frequent use of net effects analyses in extant literature results in inconsistent empirical findings. ...Net effects analyses rely on the idea of an average firm and capture complementarity only inefficiently. The current study examines the complementarity of four strategic orientations (market, entrepreneurial, relationship, and technology) using both multiple regression analysis (MRA) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The MRA results show no impact of strategic orientations on profitability, whereas the fsQCA results suggest several combinations of strategic orientations that lead to high profitability. This study contributes and demonstrates the benefits of fsQCA for examining the complementarity of strategic orientations and provides conceptual and empirical evidence for previously understudied combinations. Research on resource complementarity should focus on the combinations instead of net effects of resources.
Purpose
Prior studies suggest that strategic orientations not only impact innovation outcomes individually but also by interacting with each other and with environmental factors. Yet, inconsistent ...results in the literature remain, likely due to the common use of regression analysis and related limitations in capturing the complex reality of interdependent effects. This paper aims to overcome this challenge.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on configuration theory, this research uses fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to investigate configurations of customer, competitor and technology orientations, interfunctional coordination (IC) and environmental turbulence leading to new product success (NP) among high-tech manufacturing business-to-business firms.
Findings
Findings show seven configurations of strategic orientations as determining NP, including four configurations specific to firms operating in turbulent environments.
Originality/value
This study offers important theoretical, empirical and managerial contributions. In particular, it is the first to reveal configurations of strategic orientations that determine NP. It also advances knowledge by delineating those configurations that are most suited to firms operating in turbulent environments. Finally, findings demonstrate the interchangeable nature of facets traditionally joined as a single market orientation construct – customer and competitor orientation as well as IC.
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