Browsing by Author "Bessant, John"

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    Building and Sustaining Learning Networks.
    (2003-06) Bessant, John; Barnes, Justin; Morris, Mike; Kaplinsky, Raphael
    Research suggests that there are a number of potential advantages to learning in some form of network which include being able to benefit from other’s experience, being able to reduce the risks in experimentation, being able to engage in challenging reflection and in making use of peer group support. Examples of such configurations can be found in regional clusters, in sector groupings, in heterogeneous groups sharing a common topic of interest, in user groups concerned with learning around a particular technology or application and in supply chain learning. Although there is clear potential in such shared learning and some evidence of its being achieved in a few cases it is clear that learning in such configurations does not take place automatically. This paper addresses some of the management challenges involved in setting up and nurturing learning networks. It draws particularly on case examples of learning networks in operation in the automotive components and timber products industries in South Africa.
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    The creation of a new product development capability in UK manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
    (2006) Noke, Hannah; Bessant, John; Radnor, Zoe
    This is a study of how manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) create a new product development (NPD) capability in the UK. The UK’s innovative and productive performance remains a subject of considerable concern, not least because of its increasing productivity gap, but also because of concerns relating to the manufacturing industry’s reliance on gaining process efficiencies. Indeed it is believed that to remain competitive a move up the value chain is a necessity, through the likes of new product development. This exploratory research has adopted a qualitative approach, through interpretative means, allowing a rich and in-depth understanding to be gained. The study incorporates four detailed case studies on UK based manufacturing SMEs. A number of research methods were employed to aid triangulation of the data, including unstructured and semi-structured interviews, observation and documentation, such as company brochures and website material. The thesis makes two contributions to new knowledge and understanding. Firstly, the strategies that are employed and found to enable the creation of a NPD capability are identified; these include external involvement with other organisations to access resources and skills not possessed by the firms themselves. These outward facing strategies incorporate the use of strategic alliances, licensing of technology and ideas, and outsourcing elements of the NPD process. In addition, an internal, in-house development process was utilised. This offered the firms control of the process and the opportunity to capitalise on their own unique knowledge and skills which provided them with a competitive advantage. Secondly, this study provides a unique insight into the factors that are required for SMEs to create a NPD capability. Interestingly, this research indicates that these factors are not created simultaneously; rather, they occur at different rates and as such were categorised as ‘enablers’, i.e. those factors already enabling the creation of a NPD capability. The second group of factors, ‘qualifiers’, were found to be important to the creation of a NPD capability, but were not fully developed and were not enabling the process. However, the research identified the potential of ‘qualifiers’ to become enablers over time.
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    Developing an organizational culture that facilitates radical innovation in a mature small to medium sized company: emergent findings
    (2005-06-03T18:42:27Z) McLaughlin, Patrick; Bessant, John; Smart, Palie
    Existing theories in the broad field of innovation management suggest that organizational culture affects the propensity of firms to be innovative, in their new product development offerings. A major thrust of inquiry implies that mature firms often lose their propensity to be innovative, as some aspects of organisational culture that were previously associated with successful incremental change, become the current cultural inhibitors of radical innovation. Whilst a large proportion of the existing empirical research has concentrated on incremental innovation or innovation management in general, there is little known about the specific aspects of organisational culture that facilitate radical innovation. Furthermore, the literature tends to focus on ‘innovation stories’ in larger firms which often simply assume that smaller firms are more agile and therefore more innovative in their approach to value creation. This paper reports the results of an exploratory case study into specific aspects of an organisational culture within a R&D setting that enable radical product innovation, in a small to medium sized UK based company in the tobacco industry. A grounded research methodology and an action research approach utilised an “issue” focus to surface the presence and intensity of cultural attributes that enable and inhibit radical product innovation. This investigation identified nine emerging themes and key constructs of a “local” innovation culture that were found to influence radicalness in new product development ventures. The interrelationships between the themes are mapped and discussed in the context of current theoretical perspectives in the field of innovation management. Finally a conceptual framework incorporating two archetypal forms of innovation culture is outlined to articulate and scope the transition between these two “ideal” states.
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    Exploring aspects of organizational culture that facilitate radical product innovation in a small mature company
    (Cranfield University, 2006) McLaughlin, Patrick; Bessant, John; Smart, Palie
    Much recent discussion has highlighted the challenges posed by what have variously been called “disruptive”, “discontinuous”, “breakthrough” and “radical” innovations. Although the labelling may vary, the underlying themes appear to be consistent. In particular it is clear that under conditions in which the dominant “rules of the game” change as a result of emergent or shifting markets, major movements at the technological frontier, dislocations in the regulatory environment etc, even organizations with well-developed innovation capabilities get into difficulties. This is less a matter of particular technological, market or political stimuli than of the limitations of the repertoire of organizational responses available to the firm. This resurfaces a long-running concern with managing innovation in two different modes, namely “exploitation” and “exploration”. This thesis reports the results of exploratory research into specific aspects of the organizational culture within the Research and Development (R&D) setting of a small mature UK based company, Cerulean. In doing so it also identifies and discusses key management interventions for developing an innovation culture that facilitates radical product innovation. Cerulean designs and manufactures quality control instrumentation and has in the past been very successful with radically new products. In recent years this propensity for “radicalness” has declined and the company now wishes to regain this capability. A grounded research methodology and a participative action research approach was utilised to surface issues that clearly illustrated both the presence and intensity of aspects of organisation culture that enabled and inhibited radical product innovation. Participative analysis of the data identified nine emerging themes and key constructs of an innovation culture that was found to influence “radicalness” in new product development ventures. The interrelationships between the themes were discussed in the context of current theoretical perspectives in the field of innovation management. This led to the development of a conceptual model that incorporates two “ideal” archetypal forms of innovation culture. A composite instrument was developed based on existing evaluation tools and used to assess the innovation culture. First use of the instrument indicated areas of opportunity in developing a radical innovation culture. Further participative analysis of the emergent themes and the assessment and evaluations of the extant innovation culture, resulted in a series of management interventions to stimulate the development of a culture to facilitate radical product innovation. The design of the interventions was also informed by the literature and other organizations, part of a national Discontinuous Innovation Forum (DIF) undergoing similar ambitions. The proposed interventions comprise a series of linked management actions in the form of a plan to shift the innovation culture of the company closer to a desired radical innovation culture.
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    Logistics service innovation management - evidence from two longitudinal case studies at Deutsche Post
    (Cranfield University, 2005) Kohler, Thomas; Harrison, Alan; Bessant, John; Hemmingway, Chris
    This study aims at exploring ways to better manage organisational development and change in practice. For project managers like myself it is important to gain a solid understanding about the drivers or inhibitors in these developments and change processes. I was particularly interested in those development and change processes aimed at the achievement or maintenance of competitive advantage within an industry. One way of achieving or maintaining competitive advantage may be based on serving the customer’s strategic needs through innovation (Chapman et. al., 2003). Various process models propose how service innovation projects in general should be managed. However, large and mature organisations in particular may encounter difficulties in their implementation (Dougherty and Hardy, 1996). From a practitioner’s point of view, this is an especially dire situation as service innovations, particularly those driven by strategic intent, are under great pressure from decision-makers to succeed. Along these lines Dougherty (1996) suggests a shift of focus, to a focus on the fact that innovation activities have inherent ‘tensions’. She defines ‘tensions’ as challenges that have to be dealt with during an innovation project. Drawing on the evidence of three sequential projects conducted at DHL Express, the parcel branch of Deutsche Post, I tried to investigate the nature of service innovations and their inherent tensions. By longitudinally tracking the activities and their inherent tension’s life cycle in an exploratory case study, I tried to get a better understanding of how tensions appear in innovation projects, as well as the dynamics of these tensions. The evidence of this first case study was used to theorise about an optimised sequence of activities, as well as first propositions about how tensions might be managed. The first set of propositions derived from the exploratory case was then given a trial in a second longitudinal case study. The activities of the first logistics service innovation project included a major ‘information engineering’ component. According to Davenport (1993) ‘information engineering’ deals with description of an already conceptualised process in informational terms, such that a system can be rapidly and rigorously constructed to support the new process design. Hence, the set of activities proposed in this study include the capability to include an information system component as a service innovation deliverable; a capability long recognised to be essential for exhorting positive influences on the operation of logistics systems (Kent, 1996). This research was conducted in the context of a number of unusual opportunities. First and foremost, both case studies had similar stakeholders and objectives. Secondly, all stakeholders contributing to the first case study were willing and able to collaboratively contribute to improvements in the management of activities and their inherent tensions. Finally, all inquiry participants then implemented those propositions into the following case study for inspection. Based on the evidence of the second case study, I show how managing activities and tensions with congenerous dedication exploited all four tensions to improve the probability of innovation projects to deliver.
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    A review of the literature addressing the role of knowledge and expertise at key stages of business growth and development. Final Report
    (Dti - Department of Trade and Industry., 2005-08) Bessant, John; Phelps, Bob; Adams, Richard
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    Special report: Competing on knowledge
    (Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z) Bessant, John; Birkinshaw, Julian; Delbridge, Rick; Griffith, Rachel l.; Haskel, Jonathan; Neely, Andrew
    Traditionally, the UK has been regarded as good at innovation - with many inventions and scientific breakthroughs. So, can this nation rest easy? No. Based on extensive research by the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), it would appear that the agenda for keeping Britain competitive is a demanding one. Six AIM authors report on what the UK needs to know. And do.
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    Sustainability-oriented innovation: a systematic review
    (Wiley, 2015-05-15) Adams, Richard; Jeanrenaud, Sally; Bessant, John; Denyer, David; Overy, Patrick
    This paper is intended as a contribution to the ongoing conceptual development of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) and provides initial guidance on becoming and being sustainable. The authors organize and integrate the diverse body of empirical literature relating to SOI and, in doing so, develop a synthesized conceptual framework onto which SOI practices and processes can be mapped. Sustainability-oriented innovation involves making intentional changes to an organization's philosophy and values, as well as to its products, processes or practices to serve the specific purpose of creating and realizing social and environmental value in addition to economic returns. A critical reading of previous literature relating to environmental management and sustainability reveals how little attention has been paid to SOI, and what exists is only partial. In a review of 100 scholarly articles and 27 grey sources drawn from the period of the three Earth Summits (1992, 2002 and 2012), the authors address four specific deficiencies that have given rise to these limitations: the meaning of SOI; how it has been conceptualized; its treatment as a dichotomous phenomenon; and a general failure to reflect more contemporary practices. The authors adopt a framework synthesis approach involving first constructing an initial architecture of the landscape grounded in previous studies, which is subsequently iteratively tested, shaped, refined and reinforced into a model of SOI with data drawn from included studies: so advancing theoretical development in the field of SOI.
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    Teamworking and Knowledge Management: A Review of Converging Themes.
    (Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2002-03) Sapsed, Jonathan; Bessant, John; Partington, David; Tranfield, David; Young, Malcolm
    The teamworking and knowledge management fields are increasingly converging. Teamworking is turned to with a growing disillusion with knowledge management approaches that are seen as excessively `hard', `objectified', or `information technology dominated'. This paper is a critical review, the purpose of which is to survey the literature across several fields that provide insights into teamworking aspects of knowledge management, and the reverse. This approach is chosen as disciplines tend to sustain presumptions and preoccupations that may be contradicted by other fields, as is shown. In particular, the review challenges what is referred to as the `organizational behaviour textbook theory of teamworking' and refers to research and theory from several disciplines that qualify what is still an influential orthodoxy. The paper attempts to draw together some principles from current themes such as collective mind, modularity, cross-functional teams and communities of practice.
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    Towards technological rules for designing innovation networks: a dynamic capabilities view
    (Emerald Publishing Group Limited, 2007) Smart, Palie; Bessant, John; Gupta, Abhishek
    Inter-organizational innovation networks provide opportunities to exploit complementary resources that reside beyond the boundary of the firm. The shifting locus of innovation and value creation away from the “sole firm as innovator” poses important questions about the nature of these resources and the capabilities needed to leverage them for competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to describe research into producing design-oriented knowledge, for configuring inter-organizational networks as a means of accessing such resources for innovation.