Download full programme and abstract book pdf 1.6

24:02
Organizational linkages in an investment program
Ruuska, Inkeri1 ; Turkulainen, Virpi2 ; Brady, Tim3 1Aalto University School of Science, BIT Research Centre,
Espoo, Finland; 2Aalto University School of Science,
Department of Industrial Management, Espoo, Finland;
3University of Brighton, The Freeman Centre, Brighton, United
Kingdom
The paper focuses on knowledge integration in an investment
program of an oil company to develop production capacity to
enter a new market: biofuels. The program consists of series
of projects – to develop the technology to produce renewable
diesel fuels, to set up the first commercial production facility
to establish the viability of the technology, to build the second
plant alongside the first plant to double capacity, and then
to rapidly build two large-scale plants on a global basis. The
program includes a major shift in the technology. We build on
the idea that organizational linkages are critical for successful
technological transitions, yet they have received very little
attention in prior research (Taylor & Helfat, 2009). We focus
especially on how managers can create the linkages in the
organization and what type of tools exists for integrating
the organization. We approach integration from information
processing perspective (e.g., Galbraith, 1973; Tushman &
Nadler, 1978). These are related to the structural influences of
Taylor and Helfat (2009) that managers have on the linking
activities. We divide the linking activities into three modes:
impersonal, personal, and group modes (Galbraith, 1973;
Van de Ven et al., 1976) and discuss them in the vertical and
horizontal dimensions in the organization as well as the links
to potential external partners. Despite of posing significant
costs to the organization (Galbraith, 1973; Lawrence &
Lorsch, 1967), technological transitions often involve a high
degree of interdependence between the new technology and
the required complementary assets, and hence, higher costs
of coordination (Taylor & Helfat, 2009). The paper develops
an integrating framework for understanding organizational
linkages in the context of a major technological change. We
develop further understanding on the structural organizational
linkages that are required for successful technological change.
The case is used to illustrate the different tools that managers
have on managing the structural linkages. The paper is based
on a single embedded-unit case study (Yin, 1990). We have
conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 key actors:
managers involved in the implementation of the strategy, and
project directors and project managers involved in the various
development projects in the program and two persons from the
external EPCM contractor company.
24:03
The need for knowledge integration in renewable energy
innovation projects
Vie, Ola Edvin
NTNU, Dep. of Industrial Economica and Technolghy
Management, Trondheim, Norway
Norway has developed ambitious goals to become one of
leading environment friendly energy nations. The establishment
of Centres for Environment-friendly Energy Research (CEER)
scheme is one of the main measures for addressing these goals.
Based on the Description of the CEER scheme, innovation is
a prominent component and one of the main goals with this
scheme. The CEER scheme seeks to develop expertise and
promote innovation through focus on long-term research
in selected areas of environment-friendly energy, in close
cooperation between prominent research communities and
users like industry and public administrative bodies. It is
expected that innovation and value creation will be generated
mainly by the company partners, although another outcome
of a centre’s activities may be the start-up of researchbased
companies to commercialise ideas that fall outside
the core areas of the company partners. However, since the
announcement of the establishment of eight CEER centres in
February 2009, it has become evident that challenges for the
centres regarding innovation and commercialisation are more
complex than expected and anticipated. In a report written
by NIFU STEP, which review and analyse the eight CEERs’
innovation and commercialisation strategies and activities, it is
pointed out that the research communities is more accustomed
to scientific publishing and PhD education than innovation
activities, and that the intensity in collaboration between
researchers and user partners like companies is very variable
ranging from close collaboration on concrete research projects
to lack of active participation. The main objective with this
paper is to present a research project aiming to promote
innovation in the Norwegian Centres for Environment-friendly
Energy Research (CEER) by studying knowledge integration
in practice. Applying the framework of Tell (2011), the
main target with the empirical investigation is to understand
the social interaction and knowledge integration between
academics and people working in enterprises collaborating
within a CEER. The key method will be in-depth case studies
based on empirical data derived through qualitative interviews,
observations and document analysis. At the end of this project
we should have a better understanding of the knowledge
integration process, which should enable us to identify best
practice and improved design in the CEER scheme that enable
the commercialization of innovations.
24:04
Strategic learning – conceptualization and measurement
Sirén, Charlotta
University of Vaasa, Department of Management, Vaasa,
Finland
Strategic learning literature advances the strategy research by
considering strategizing as a process of organizational learning
(Mintzberg and Waters, 1985; Thomas et al., 2001; Voronov,
2008). While strategic learning has gained increased attention
and a central role in the strategic management literature, we
still know very little about the specific learning processes and
mechanisms underlying the phenomena (Voronov, 2008). Partly
due to these unsolved theoretical issues and the fragmented
nature of the research, there is a lack of empirical studies on
strategic learning. Consequently, researchers (e.g. Easterby-
Smith et al., 2000) have called for studies establishing a
valid and reliable measure for it. To address this, this study
develops a multidimensional understanding of the strategic
learning concept and its sub-processes, develops an instrument
to measure it, and validates the measurement model by
using a quantitative survey data of 206 Finnish software
firms. The study builds on the information processing view
of organizational learning (Crossan et al., 1999; Huber,
1991) and on Thomas, Sussman and Henderson´s (2001)
strategic learning framework in developing the concept. Here,
strategic learning is defined as an organization’s dynamic
capability, consisting of its knowledge processes for creation,
dissemination, interpretation and integration of strategic
knowledge (Kuwada, 1998; Thomas et al., 2001). Thus, the
strategic learning concept introduced here encompasses the
cognitive processes of creative search and strategic sensemaking
that have been addressed as missing elements in the
dynamic capability research (Pandza and Thorpe, 2009).
The strategic learning measurement tool was developed by
following on the normative scale development process. Four
latent factors constituting the concept were identified and
multi-item scales for each constructs were developed. The
item selection is based on literature review encompassing the
131