Browsing by Author "Jenkins, Mark"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 36
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access Bridging the politico-administrative divide(Cranfield University, 2003-03) Giacchino, Stephen; Kakabadse, Andrew P.; Kakabadse, Nada K.; Jenkins, MarkThis thesis presents the findings and conclusions of research that was undertaken with the purpose of exploring the issues (or factors) that typically influence the successful, or unsuccessful, implementation of public policy initiatives in Malta. The research, which followed an inductive enquiry and a case study approach, was undertaken in three sequential and progressive steps (or ‘projects’). The objective of Projects 1 and 2 was to elicit the factors that are typically considered to influence failure and success in the implementation of policy initiatives in Malta. While Project 1 focused on a case study of failure, Project 2 considered a case study of successful policy implementation1. Both studies were based upon data collected through documentary research (172 records)2 and in-depth interviews (17)3 that were held with the key persons involved in the implementation of the policies under review. Twenty-six (26) factors of failure and twenty-one (21) factors of success were identified through the application of cognitive (causal) mapping techniques (Eden, Ackermann et al., 1992) and the general principles of data codification proposed by Strauss and Corbin (1998). Using a survey of 136 persons4, Project 3 then established which of the factors elicited from the first two projects were generally considered to be critical for policy implementation in Malta. Focusing on these results, a number of propositions were then drawn with the objective of recommending measures that would improve the likelihood of successful policy implementation. The research concludes that the decisive factors influencing the successful or unsuccessful outcome of policy implementation in Malta are a function of the type and degree of commitment and leadership that are shown to a policy initiative. The research further suggests that success can be improved if the approach to the management of policies is based on the application of the principles of project management. The research makes a number of contributions to both theory and practice. Most notably, it proposes two conceptual models for framing and representing success and failure in policy implementation; it ascribes meaning to a number of clichéd concepts, particularly that of ‘(policy) commitment’; it identifies eight dimensions or requisites for effective (public sector) leadership; and it suggests a tool for guiding the selection of policy implementation leaders.Item Open Access A configurational approach to the dynamics of firm level knowledge(Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., 2009-03-30T00:00:00Z) Ambrosini, Veronique; Collier, Nardine; Jenkins, MarkWhilst there has been exponential growth in the work on the nature of organisational knowledge, relatively little progress has been made in terms of understanding the way in which knowledge specifically impacts on the firm. The aim of this paper is to further this understanding by developing a series of configurations representing some of the potential ways that knowledge is composed in organisations, with those components being tacit, explicit, architectural, component, individual and collective knowledge.Item Open Access Decision making in unfamiliar problem domains: evidence from the investment banking industry(Cranfield University, 2004-02) McGrath, Michael Peter; Jenkins, Mark; Partington, David; Bowman, Cliff; Goffin, KeithThis research explores the determinants of risk behaviour when an organisation operates outside its normal operational domain. Organisations are being forced outside their normal operational domains with ever-increasing frequency. Through studying a banking acquisition, an area which has not been studied before, the research identifies the risks faced by the organisation, the apparent irrational management of the risks, and the reasons for this behaviour. The research applies multiple research methods, which include the review of company documentation, interviews with key managers and external experts, a modified Delphi technique, case studies and statistical analysis. Through these methods, the risks faced by the organisation are identified and evaluated in terms of probability, impact, and degree of mitigation. Four risks are investigated in detail, and based on these, six propositions are put forward, four of which are support by statistical tests. The research shows that where the organisation had a successful outcome history in managing a given risk, or could manage the risk using normal management controls, the risk tended to be managed disproportionately well compared to its significance. Where those conditions do not apply the management of the risk tends to be proportionately lacking. There is also evidence to suggest that the existence of industry-specific regulation in relation to a risk results in the risk being better mitigated. Organisations wishing to improve their risk response in unfamiliar operational domains should therefore consider day-to-day controls as one route to improvement. Also, where possible, they should try to create a history of successful outcomes in dealing with the risk types they are likely to face in unfamiliar problem domains. Regulatory bodies need to consider the impact that their regulations will have in order to help organisations exhibit better behaviours in unfamiliar problem domains.Item Open Access Deconstructing Scholarship: An Analysis of Research Methods Citations in the Organizational Sciences.(Sage Publications, 2007) Partington, David; Jenkins, MarkUnderstanding the variety of different ways in which citations contribute to scholarly writing is an important part of the tacit knowledge possessed by experienced researchers. There is, however, little published work to help novice researchers develop this aspect of their craft. To address this issue, we present a framework of citation usage derived from inductive analysis of a selection of published articles and emphasize its relevance for research methods topics. This framework provides a template for structuring citation usage in academic research and a useful developmental tool for novice researchers.Item Open Access Defining the markets : an exploration of marketing managers' cognitive frameworks(1993) Jenkins, MarkItem Open Access An exploration into the relationship between managers' personal values and their interpretation of their organisation's corporate values(Cranfield University, 2002-06) Bourne, Humphrey; Jenkins, MarkThe predominant assumption in the management literature is that corporate values are internalised into organisational members' personal value systems. Corporate values, viewed in this way, perform a controlling role in organisations, consistent with the characteristics of a deliberate strategy perspective. Theories concerning the nature of personal values challenge this assumption of corporate value internalisation. However, there is a lack of empirical research in the management field investigating the relationship between personal and corporate value systems. In this interpretive research study, I explore managers' interpretation of their organisation's corporate values, and relate these to their personal value priorities. Senior managers from three commercial companies took part in the study: one with no published corporate values statement; one with a recently introduced statement; and the third with a well established corporate values statement. I explore how managers interpret their organisation's corporate values through the description and meaning they give to value terms, and elicit their personal values by using an adaptation of the laddering technique, and by inferring values revealed in managers' narrative of their career histories. The findings show that managers feel they share their corporate values but interpret them in differing ways, both through those they identify as representing the corporate values, and through the meaning they give to value terms. The variation in interpretation is consistent with differences in their own personal value priorities, suggesting that managers adapt corporate values so that they more closely reflect their own. These findings challenge the notion that corporate values provide an effective means of normative control, and instead suggest they legitimise the worldview of individual managers, thus enabling differences to be accommodated within a broad framework of shared values. A model of value relationships is proposed, suggesting a way that corporate values may assist in bringing together deliberate and emergent strategy perspectives.Item Open Access An exploration of the process and nature of innovation in clusters(Cranfield University, 2005-03) Collier, Nardine; Svejenova, Silviya; Jenkins, MarkInterest in the subject of clusters has been steadily increasing over the last few decades. One reason for this is that organisations in the cluster often out perform organisations from the same industry located outside of the cluster. One of the predominant explanations for the clusters ability to achieve this is through innovation. The cluster literature shows that clusters are a important source of innovation, and that innovation plays a key role in maintaining the competitiveness and existence of the cluster. However, although innovation is discussed in the literature, it can be thought of as a black box or fuzzy concept (Markusen, l999b). This is because although the drivers to innovation are stated, and innovation is known to be a positive outcome for the cluster, innovation is not studied as a concept, and statements concerning innovation are often made without evidence or justification. Therefore relatively little is known about the process or nature of innovation as it occurs in clusters. The research question was devised from this position, and aimed to investigate what was actually meant and understood by innovation in clusters. To this end the research question was: What is the process and nature of innovation in clusters?â I this thesis I report on empirical studies undertaken in two clusters, in which I used semi- Structured interviews. Aer a analytical review of the interview findings I discuss the results from a cross case comparison; this is complemented with data from the extant literature. The results from the comparison are used to generate a empirically derived model of the process of innovation, and a definition of the nature of innovation in clusters. The model explains that the process of innovation progresses through five steps: Ignite; Gather; Spark off; Create and Diffuse. The definition of the nature of innovation is understood via five essential characteristics; that innovation is major, undertaken continuously, is time compressed, problem solving, and survival driven. I combination the model and definition leads to a analytically generalisable view of the process and nature of innovation, which can be applied to clusters as a whole.Item Open Access Exploring projectification in the public sector: the case of the next stage review implementation programme in the department of health(Cranfield University, 2015-10) Schuster, Andrew; Lupson, Jonathan; Buchanan, David; Jenkins, MarkObjective: Public projects are used to delivery policy objectives. From a financial perspective, the Major Projects Authority (MPA) estimated a whole life investment of £488 billion for 199 major projects in 2014, only a small subset of the total number of public projects. Given the financial exposure, the impact of endemic public project failures could put the economic health of the nation at risk. This thesis studies the challenges facing public projects. It applies an organisational capabilities lens to investigate projectification, when organisations shift away from functional-based organising (FBO) toward project-based organising (PBO). Research Design: This study adopts an interpretivist research paradigm, with a constructionist epistemology and an idealist ontology, and employs an abductive research strategy. Structurally, it follows the Cranfield Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) methodology, with a linking document that summarises three complementary research projects: a systematic literature review (SLR) followed by two empirical studies that investigate the Department of Health (DoH) during the early phases of the Next Stage Review Implementation Programme (NSRIP). The findings are derived from over 250 academic literature sources, 100 government publications and 41 semi-structured interviews. ...[cont.]Item Open Access The formulation of competitive actions in practice(Cranfield University, 2016-11) Shaw, Richard; Jenkins, MarkThis is a study of what managers do in relation to the formulation of competitive actions. The study started with Project 1 (P1), a literature review that looked at managers’ cognitions in respect of competitive positioning and competitive strategy. A gap was found in how individual competitive actions are formulated and executed. A gap was also found concerning what managers do in response to interpretations of their competitive environments. Following the literature review, a series of semi-structured interviews were undertaken with managers and 26 individual competitive actions were recorded and analysed in Project 2 (P2). A structure to the formulation of competitive actions was discerned and developed into a processual model that is triggered by a stimulus, followed by the manager envisaging desired outcome and setting objectives, then deciding which levers to use, developing the action and refining it. Its application to practice was developed in Project 3 (P3) through an aide memoir tool to assist managers. The study makes a contribution to theory by providing a framework that captures the way in which managers construe and formulate competitive actions. In P2 it was found that managers tend to follow a largely homogenous process and that the tools and techniques offered in the extant literature are seldom used. The managers interviewed in mature industries were far more aware of who their competitors were in more when compared to nascent industries. This had a bearing on the formulation of competitive actions insofar as companies operating in mature industries formulated competitive actions to fend off or compete with their competitors more effectively while companies operating in nascent industries tended to formulate competitive actions with the aim of exploiting gaps in the market. It was found in P2 that managers’ backgrounds, including their functional and educational, as well as their nationalistic and cultural backgrounds, had a bearing on how they construed their competitors and the competitive actions they formulated. It was also found that competitive actions were formulated and executed on an iterative process, whereby managers would refine their actions applying the learnings from previous actions. Managers, particularly those with more experience, relied heavily on intuition and tacit knowledge, as well as input from colleagues and customers, when formulating competitive actions. Contrary to the assertions many in much of the extant literature about companies not deviating from industry norms when formulating competitive actions, the study found that managers would often do so in search of abnormal profits. The study makes a contribution to practice by providing a guide to assist in formulating competitive actions. The guide is based on the processual model developed in P2 and was summarised in five key steps, comprising Stimulus, Objectives, Levers, Actions and Refinement, and abbreviated ‘SOLAR’.Item Open Access The geography of learning: Ferrari Gestione Sportiva 1929-2008(Oxford University Press, 2015-02-13) Jenkins, Mark; Tallman, StephenThis article considers the mechanisms that permit and enhance the movement of highly tacit component (technical) knowledge and geographically sticky architectural knowledge across borders and between clusters and firms. We address a number of critical research questions that relate to intra- and inter-locational knowledge transfer. We use a theory-driven, longitudinal, single case study to develop a conceptual framework to examine and describe how shifting the geography of knowledge sourcing can facilitate architectural change by following the transformation of one business unit within a specialist global organization through a series of evolutionary steps that involved internalizing new component knowledge from other firms and locations, transforming the company’s architectural knowledge through various transactions with firms and individuals from a foreign cluster, and eventually radically transforming the concept of the firm and its focus. We close by generalizing this model to address the fundamental processes of the spatial aspects of organizational learning.Item Open Access Innovate or imitate? The role of collective beliefs in competences in competing firms(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2014-08-01T00:00:00Z) Jenkins, MarkThis study focuses on the collective beliefs of managers in competing firms and how they interpret and respond to successful technological innovation. Drawing on prior work suggesting that managers will tend to over-estimate their own competences and neglect those of their competitors in conditions of ambiguity, this paper explores these issues through a case study of competitive innovation in Formula 1 motorsport. The study concludes with a framework to explain how firms arrive at either innovative or imitative approaches and also why they may shift between them. The framework tentatively suggests that the focus on inimitability emphasized in the resource-based literature is potentially misplaced when taking an interpretive perspective of competitive dynamics. This lens suggests that managerial logic in response to performance feedback favours more innovative approaches placing greater emphasis on non-substitutability as the basis for creating barriers to competitive advantage. However the study also identifies some of the potential interplay between innovation and imitation and suggests a more nuanced way of considering incremental innovation by extending the potential opportunities for creating competitive advantage through innovative imitation – where the original innovation is outperformed by creative approaches to imitation and also imitative innovation – where imitative adaptations of an innovation extend the period of competitive advantage beyond that which would normally have been achieved.Item Open Access Making sense of markets: a proposed research agenda(1992) Jenkins, MarkItem Open Access Mapping espoused organizational values(Springer, 2017-11-17) Bourne, Humphrey; Jenkins, Mark; Parry, EmmaThis paper develops an inventory and conceptual map of espoused organizational values. We suggest that espoused values are fundamentally different to other value forms as they are collective value statements that need to coexist as a basis for organizational activity and performance. The inventory is built from an analysis of 3112 value items espoused by 554 organizations in the UK and USA in both profit and not-for-profit sectors. We distil these value items into 85 espoused value labels, and these are assessed in terms of their similarity and difference through judgements made by 53 experienced individuals. The resulting conceptual map facilitates the evaluation of values which are espoused at the organizational level, as opposed to aggregations of personal values, an important distinction that is often ignored in the literature. This analysis identifies a number of distinct areas of emphasis occupied by espoused values. In particular, the richness of value labels that relates to broader ethical issues may be aimed at external stakeholder management, but also may have an increasing influence on organizational behaviour as they are embedded into organizational practices. By advancing our understanding of espoused values, through an analysis of those being used in practice, we provide a means by which future research into organizational values and ethical issues can progress.Item Open Access Market segmentation: organizational archetypes and research agendas.(Emerald, 1997-02) Jenkins, Mark; McDonald, Malcolm H. B.The study of how organizations segment their markets has traditionally taken a prescriptive and analytical approach. More recently, a number of academics and practitioners have voiced concerns over the evident gap between how such concepts are viewed in theory and how they are applied in practice. These issues have already been raised in academic papers, but almost entirely at an abstract level. Introduces a more concrete aspect to the debate by proposing a series of organizational archetypes which illustrate how organizations may segment their markets in practice. These archetypes are developed from a series of mini-case studies which provide a basis for understanding how organizations may interface with the market at both an explicit and implicit level. Discusses the implications for both academic research and organizational practice.Item Open Access Marketing: MSc in logistics and transportation(Cranfield School of Management, 1983) Jenkins, MarkThe objective of this course is to introduce the basic concepts of marketing to students undertaking an MSc in Transportation and Logistics. This module will take a strategic view of marketing in that it will develop ideas for achieving sustainable competitive advantage.Item Open Access A methodology for creating and comparing strategic causal maps(1994) Jenkins, MarkItem Open Access Modes of knowledge production: articulating coexistence in UK academic science(Cranfield University, 2015-07) Klangboonkrong, Yiarayong; Jenkins, MarkThe notion of Mode 2, as a shift from Mode 1 science-as-we-know-it, depicts science as practically relevant, socially distributed and democratic. Debates remain over the empirical substantiation of Mode 2. In particular, our understanding has been impeded by the mutually exclusive framing of Mode 1/Mode 2. Looking at how academic science is justified to diverse institutional interests – a situation associated with Mode 2 – it is asked, “What happens to Mode 1 where Mode 2 is in demand?” This study comprises two sequential phases. It combines interviews with 18 university spinout founders as micro-level Mode 2 exemplars, and macro-level policy narratives from 72 expert witnesses examined by select committees. An interpretive scheme (Greenwood and Hinings, 1988) is applied to capture the internal means-ends structure of each mode, where the end is to satisfy demand constituents, both in academia (Mode 1) and beyond (Mode 2). Results indicate Mode 1’s enduring influence even where non-academic demands are concerned, thus refuting that means and ends necessarily operate together as a stable mode. The causal ambiguity inherent in scientific advances necessitates (i) Mode 1 peer review as the only quality control regime systematically applicable ex ante, and (ii) Mode 1 means of knowledge production as essential for the health and diversity of the science base. Modifications to performance criteria are proposed to create a synergy between modes and justify public investment, especially in the absence of immediate outcomes. The study presents a framework of Mode1/Mode 2 coexistence that eases the problem with the either/or perception and renders Mode 2 more amenable to empirical research. It is crucial to note, though, that this is contingent on given vested interests. In this study, Mode 1’s fate is seen through academic scientists whose imperative is unique from those of other constituents, thereby potentially entailing further struggles and negotiation.Item Open Access Motorsport Valley revisited: cluster evolution, strategic cluster coupling and resilience(SAGE, 2021-05-27) Henry, Nick; Angus, Tim; Jenkins, MarkOver 20 years ago a series of papers identified a strikingly dominant economic cluster – the UK’s Motorsport Valley (MSV) – which led to MSV becoming an international exemplar of concepts such as agglomeration, clusters and knowledge-driven systems of regional development. Utilising an evolutionary perspective on cluster development, this paper asks ‘whatever happened to MSV?’. Drawing on the framework of strategic cluster coupling, four cluster development episodes are conceptualised that each depict the dynamic evolution of the cluster’s multi-scalar institutional environment, strategic coupling trajectories and economic development outcomes. Reflecting the emerging synthesis between evolutionary economic geography and geographical political economy, the paper describes an extended case study of cluster development, an evolutionary process of strategic cluster coupling and, ultimately, an example of cluster resilience. Through a focus on strategic cluster coupling, the paper provides further understanding of cluster evolution and path development mechanisms at key moments of cluster reconfiguration – and an empirical update and continuation of the economic story and cluster lifecycle of MSV.Item Open Access Organizational Values: A Dynamic Perspective(SAGE, 2013-04) Bourne, Humphrey; Jenkins, MarkWe make the case that there are four distinct forms of organizational values – espoused, attributed, shared and aspirational. These partial, but related forms encompass variation in temporal orientation and levels of analysis. We use these forms to reveal the dynamic nature of organizational values by delineating the evolution of gaps and overlaps between them. We set out a series of propositions, originating from institutional, organizational and managerial sources to explain the nature of movement between these distinct forms of values and the potential implications for organizational behaviour and performance. Finally, we consider the possibilities of this fine-grained analysis of the organizational values concept for future research.Item Open Access Pathways to diversification(Cranfield University, 2016-09) Al Hashemi, Hamed; Jenkins, MarkA fundamental research question in regional economic development, is why some regions are able to diversify into new products and industries, while others continue to face challenges in diversification? This doctorate research explores the different pathways to diversification. It follows the three-stage modular structure of DBA for Cranfield School of Management. This thesis consists of a systematic literature review, a single qualitative case study on UAE, and a research synthesis of published cases on Singapore, Norway and UAE. The linking document provides a summary of the three projects and consolidates findings and contributions into a path creation model that provides new understanding on the pathways to regional diversifications. This research integrates existing theoretical foundations of evolutionary economic geography, institutional economic geography, path dependence, industry relatedness, economic complexity, and path creation into a unified conceptual path creation model. It generates propositions, builds a framework and develops a matrix for path creation that integrate context, actors, factors, mechanisms and outcomes shaping regional diversification. It finds that in the context of path dependence and existing conditions of a region, economic actors undertake strategic measures to influence the institutional capabilities to accumulate knowledge and trigger indigenous creation, anchoring, branching, and clustering diversification mechanisms to create complex varieties of related and unrelated diversification outcomes. The institutional collaboration capabilities are found to be instrumental in accumulating knowledge and determining the relatedness and complexity of diversification outcomes. This research further provides a set of integrated platform strategies to guide policy-makers on setting up the pathways to regional diversification.