During periods of discontinuous technological change (DTC), firms seek alliances to obtain new resources and competences. The concept of innovation ecosystems is increasingly used to address joint ...value creation endeavours. Interactions within an innovation ecosystem are typically organized around a technology platform consisting of shared assets, standards, and interfaces. Yet, few empirical studies explain how innovation ecosystems emerge. Based on a longitudinal case study of autonomous drive technology development at Volvo Car Group, this paper aims at showing how alliances for developing a new technology leads to the emergence of an innovation ecosystem. In the context of a DTC, the paper underlines how the initial resource constraints can be a blessing in disguise that drives a firm to seek new alliances. We identify that the alliances had a significant influence on the technology platform, transitioning it from an internal to a modular technology platform. This triggered the emergence of an innovation ecosystem, consisting of actors co-creating value and organizing around the technology platform. Further, the paper highlights the subtle distinction between modularization for outsourcing and modularization for co-creating value.
•The concept of innovation ecosystems is increasingly used to address joint value creation endeavours.•Interactions in innovation ecosystems are organized around atechnology platform with shared assets, standards, and interfaces.•Technology-sourcing alliances may trigger development of modular platforms that support the emergence of innovation ecosystems.
•Competition pushes firms to innovate more radically, leading to product recalls.•Firms that innovate radically are more likely to experience product recalls, if they have experienced recalls in the ...past.•Firms with broader product portfolios are more likely to experience recalls.
Although the consequences of product recalls are well-documented in the literature, literature on the antecedents of recalls is lacking. This study investigates the effects of innovation practices on the likelihood of product recalls in the automotive industry. In doing so, we assess if pushing too hard on innovation can increase the risks that trigger recalls. We assess this potential by leveraging 284 make-year observations. The results demonstrate that innovation radicalness and product line breadth are positively associated with recalls. Furthermore, previous recall magnitude moderates the relationship between innovation radicalness and subsequent recalls. The authors find that the interaction of innovation radicalness and previous recall magnitude increases subsequent recalls, suggesting that firms that are already struggling with recalls can fall further behind by taking risks with their innovation strategy. The managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.
Nearly a decade after the 2015 emissions scandal, Volkswagen has transitioned from marketing deceptive ‘clean engine cars’ to becoming a major player in the electrification of the automotive ...industry. Yet, the violation of environmental standards during the scandal resulted in excessive pollutant emissions, posing persistent threats to health and the environment. This paper explores how consumers held Volkswagen accountable for these hazards. Our analysis reveals that the decline in Volkswagen’s sales volumes following the scandal was driven by environmentally concerned consumers globally. However, their reaction was short-lived and mainly limited to the models implicated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Interestingly, we find no evidence of lost sales to competitors. Instead, we document a within-brand or within-group shift in favor of Volkswagen models compliant with environmental regulations. This phenomenon could be one of the contributing factors explaining Volkswagen’s resilience in navigating the fallout from the scandal.
Sheet metal forming is used to process a substantial percentage of automobile components, and the so-called springback behavior is of primary importance, in order to obtain the final part with an ...accurate geometry. This paper describes a springback research that employs three different materials often used in the automobile industry: DP780, HSLA420, and AA5754. The unconstrained cylindrical bending test (UCB test) will be utilized to assess the springback prediction for selected materials. In this study, experimental data is collected and numerical results are provided utilizing finite element techniques. Results show that UCB test is an adequate benchmark for analysis of springback behavior of sheet metallic materials and it has also been observed a close agreement between numerical results and experiments.
As it is widely known, along with the manufacturer and the consumer, the authorities that implement the state policy on ensuring the safety of products put into circulation in the country and create ...appropriate regulatory documents within their competence also participate in the formation of requirements for the design of cars. Mandatory requirements can be national (for one country only) or regional (for several countries). In addition, a country or a group of countries may, within the framework of an international agreement, join international requirements. Regulation of vehicles and its additional equipment at the legislative level stands as a guarantee from the state to the citizens that only safe products get to the country’s market. The amount of additional equipment installed on the vehicles is constantly increasing and there are no appropriate regulatory documents for the major part of this equipment; this represents the relevancy of the selected topic.
In the past few years, there has been increasing awareness regarding the significance of the Green Innovation Strategy (GIS) in the academic and practical fields. Hence, it becomes important to ...determine the correlation between the GIS and the Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). This study attempted to determine the dynamic correlation between the GIS and the CFP, with regards to the firm size. For this purpose, this study has collected data for 163 international automotive firms, from the CSRHub database, for the period ranging between 2011 and 2017. Furthermore, we also used the dynamic panel data system, i.e., the Generalised Method of Moment (GMM) method, for estimating this relationship. The empirical results indicated that the GIS positively affected the CFP. Interestingly, we also uncovered that the firm size moderated the negative correlation between the GIS and the CFP. The small-sized firms showed higher green innovation investments return than the larger-sized firms, which indicated that these smaller firms were more prone to seek variation and visibility, for accessing better resources. Furthermore, due to the extensive scrutiny of the stakeholders, these small firms could generate higher profits. The implications for managers and the theories in this regard are then discussed.
•The relationship between firm-level green innovation strategy and corporate financial performance is investigated.•Green innovation strategy interacts with firm size to affect organisational performance.•The paper controlled for endogeneity that emerges from unobservable heterogeneity of firms using the dynamic method of moments estimator.•Green innovation strategy shows significant positive effect on corporate financial performance.•The small-sized firms shown GIS than the larger-sized firms, which more inclined to pursue variation and visibility, for accessing better resources.
Flowchart of proposed research work.
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•This research recognized 9 key strategies in adopting Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) practices.•ISM - fuzzy MICMAC analysis is used ...to analyse the hidden relationship between SSCM strategies.•‘Management involvement, support and commitment’ is topmost influential SSCM strategy.•This work will facilitate different organizations and bodies in management of resources.
Over the past few years, a growing concern has been noticed among society, government and non-government organisations for conserving the environment and adopting Sustainable Supply Chain management (SSCM) practices. However, it is not simple for industries to develop sustainability in their business operations and activities especially in emerging economies. In this sense, the purpose of present research is to recognise and analyse various strategies to implement SSCM practices in Indian context. Present research has recognized nine key strategies. Due to qualitative nature of research, Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methodology integrated with fuzzy MICMAC analysis to further refine the hidden relationship between strategies has been attempted. The identified SSCM strategies have been categorized based on their dependence and driving power. ISM methodology offers merely binary relationship among strategies, whereas fuzzy MICMAC analysis gives accurate investigation related to dependence and driving power of strategies. Findings reveals that ‘Management involvement, support and commitment’; ‘Understanding of the sustainability impacts of their supply chain’ and ‘Establishing a vision and objectives for supply chain sustainability’ are the strategies with the topmost independence powers. The developed model will help in uncovering the interaction and dependence among the identified strategies in implementation of SSCM practices from industrial viewpoint. The inputs of experts from academia and Indian automotive manufacturing firms have been used in this research. The present work will facilitate automotive and related firms in prioritisation of strategies and managing resources in a most sustainable way in an emerging economy context.
The manufacturing industry is having an issue regarding the quality of the company's planning to produce efficient performance throughout the year. The improvement needs to be carried out to give ...customers considerable satisfaction regarding the quality of the products and the delivery time. As the manufacturing industry evolves throughout the decades, the demands are becoming more challenging: faster delivery and better quality of products. The markets will interrupt a good supply chain of a company. The Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) approach significantly benefits companies whose focus is on lead time reduction. This study aims to reduce the lead time and to improve the supply chain of a selected automotive production line by using Witness software simulation. The improvement also sought to implement the Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management method. The data collected from company X is simulated to get the percentage of idle, blocked, and overall process time. By using the data from the selected line, the improvement of the overall process time is 27.5%, meaning that the company is ready to implement the JIT inventory management method.
•Application of fsQCA to analyze the future impact of digital transformation on the automotive industry.•The disruptive effect of the introduction of electric vehicles on the market is ...considered.•Government policies regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the automotive sector have been taken into account.•The methodology has been successfully applied to the automotive industry in Spain.•Small and medium-sized enterprises lack digital transformation strategies, which may have a dramatic effect in the long term in Spain.
Digital technologies are transforming the automotive industry and disrupting traditional business models. New business opportunities related to Industry 4.0 are emerging, so companies must adapt to the new environment.
The study presents an application of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze the future impact of digital transformation on business performance models and the different actors’ satisfaction. A wide range of aspects and actors derived from the digital transformation process in the automotive industry are considered.
The study covers connected and autonomous driving, mobility as a service, digital information sources in car purchasing, big data, etc. The disruptive effect of the gradual introduction of electric vehicles into the market is also considered, which is boosted by environmental policies on climate change and directives for the potential use of renewable energy sources to power electric vehicles.
On the other hand, the study analyses the impacts of digital transformation on the automotive industry from the point of view of different actors, ranging from automobile manufacturers, service providers, public transportation providers, and consumers to governments.
The methodology has been successfully applied to a complex case study‐based empirical analysis. It presents a novel application of fsQCA to digital transformation in the automotive industry in Spain.
The conclusions show that it is necessary to invest in adequate measures for adaptation to digital transformation, and manufacturers will end up having greater profits, productivity, and competitiveness. From the point of view of consumers, there will be access to more and better services and greater satisfaction with the required services.
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