Browsing by Author "Giudici, Alessandro"

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    Contextual Intelligence in Programme and Project Management: A preliminary framework for configuring resources to meet strategic objectives
    (Cranfield University School of Management, 2009-04) Maylor, Harvey; Murray-Webster, Ruth; Geraldi, Joana; Lupson, Jonathan; Giudici, Alessandro
    The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly it explores a key development from Operations Management, (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1985) and tests whether it provides insights into the practices of Programme and Project Management (PPM). Through an empirical study, it is found to provide a number of important insights, including that, in general, PPM is limited to a ‘stage two’ performance aspiration on the Hayes & Wheelwright four-point scale for competitive manufacturing, with a prevailing focus on conformance to standards. The resulting question is, ‘how does an organisation develop its PPM capability beyond stage two? Achieving stage three and beyond requires that resources are configured, not to conform to a standard, but to meet the strategic needs as defined by the organisation and any end ‘customers’ for the work. Secondly, the paper considers the research question, ‘what elements of an organisation designed for programme and project-based working can be configured to meet particular strategic requirements?’ It describes the investigation of this question in a field study of 11 cases to determine the nature of the elements of configurability, and hence to generate key decision areas for PPM. The results of this study provide a preliminary framework for determining what would constitute stage 3 - effectiveness in programme and project-based operations (PPOs). The paper concludes that the theoretical insights from Operations Management used in this paper offer a future direction for research on PPOs and sets out a research agenda.
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    Dynamic capabilities - what do we 'actually' know? : a systematic assessment of the field and a research agenda
    (Cranfield University, 2009-08-28) Giudici, Alessandro; Reinmoeller, Patrick
    How organizations deal and manage strategic change is a fundamental problem in management studies. An important way increasingly chosen to implement strategies is through programmes. Programme Management is an emerging discipline that aims to research how programmes could be more effective in delivering their expected strategic benefits. In order to obtain this, it is recognised that successful programmes require a continuous development of capabilities at different levels and on a context-dependent basis. My research project aims to use the theoretical lens of dynamic capabilities to explore how different capabilities could be integrated, built, and reconfigured in a context of Programme Management. In order to establish robust bases for the PhD, this thesis presents a systematic literature review (and its formal protocol) of the dynamic capabilities view of the firm. In doing so, in this MRes thesis I test for the level of reification of the concept of dynamic capabilities and highlight some major theoretical challenges. I observe that the field is currently affected by a conversational misalignment that is hindering the potential for further research. In particular, the argument is that empirical and conceptual developments have grown from the same foundations but with low mutual influence. In addition, I utilize content and thematic analysis to explore areas where future efforts may be fruitfully directed. Overall, findings show how dynamic capabilities are an emerging field where several research gaps may be identified. However, they also highlight how it is fundamental to clarify on which theoretical foundations any research builds. Finally, I introduce some interesting findings that may be of help for an operationalization in a Programme Management context. In particular, I suggest that a high-potential and unexplored theme is how dynamic capabilities are created and sustained in the inter-organizational relationship between business service providers and their client firms.
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    Open-system orchestration as a relational source of sensing capabilities: evidence from a venture association
    (Academy of Management, 2017-08-16) Giudici, Alessandro; Reinmoeller, Patrick; Ravasi, Davide
    Research on innovation networks has highlighted the pivotal role that actors with more prominence and power, such as hub firms, may play in orchestrating the activities of other network members along a collective innovation effort. Our study examined the under-theorized, but no less important, type of orchestration that characterizes other organizations, such as business incubators and venture associations, who seek to support the dispersed entrepreneurial efforts of network members. We refer to this type as 'open-system' orchestration, as opposed to the commonly studied 'closed-system' type performed by hub firms. Our findings reveal how the processes of open-system orchestration differ markedly from those of closed-system orchestration, and detail how these processes influence the micro-foundations of network members' sensing capabilities. By doing so, we also offer empirical substantiation and theoretical elaboration to the idea that dynamic capabilities might not reside exclusively inside firms, but could be co-created relationally with other parties in the business ecosystem.
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    Sensing together : an exploration of the support of network intermediaries to firms' and entrepreneurs' search for new opportunities
    (Cranfield University, 2013-03) Giudici, Alessandro; Reinmoeller, Patrick
    This PhD thesis uses the lens of dynamic capability theory to explore how network intermediaries can support firms and entrepreneurs in their search for new opportunities, in the context of networking initiatives. Drawing on an extensive assessment of the literature and on rich evidence from multiple sources, it presents two interconnected empirical studies which offer several contributions to knowledge. The literature review systematically assesses dynamic capability research and contributes to it by demonstrating that, despite the challenges arising from a process of conceptual reification signaled in the literature, the dynamic capability construct is consolidating and needs more focused empirical investigation. It also identifies promising research gaps and offers suggestions to advance dynamic capability theory. Study 1 contributes to dynamic capability research by developing an outward-looking relational perspective which details how firms can deploy and further develop sensing dynamic capabilities in collaboration with network intermediaries. The study also confirms the importance of organizational self-awareness, brings managerial intentionality back to consideration, and sheds empirical light on the role of affective processes in dynamic capability research. Study 2 discusses how entrepreneurs participating in networking initiatives sensed for new opportunities by strategically using a richer repertoire of networking behaviors than prior research suggested. The study also contributes to entrepreneurship research by demonstrating that the networking behavior of all actors – not just the orchestrator/broker hosting the initiative – may be based on a combination of gaudens and iungens approaches. In addition, it discusses how two activity-based mechanisms, i.e. preparation and participation, may be influenced by hosts when designing networking initiatives to facilitate the emergence of new interorganizational relationships. Finally, the study argues that the combination of structured preparation and participation activities may support participants’ ambidextrous efforts to explore and exploit opportunities in networking events.