As with every decade, the 2010-2020’s are not without their buzzwords and the one making the most noise at this time is the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” [1]. So much noise in fact, that it has come to the attention of those involved in higher education. Already under pressure to embrace a paradigm change which sees education going from a more content-centred to a learner-centred position [2], educators are now being asked to take into account their other major stakeholder – industry and develop competencies on top of core subject knowledge in their students. The research presented here examines how a virtual community and can be used for collaborative learning, with a specific focus on how educators can make the leap from theory to practice successfully [3]. The methodology used was action research which, as per Dick [4], is a three-step process that can go through several iterations. These steps: intention, action, and review, were acted upon, in three iterations, over a three-year period. The sample comprised adult further education students (n=95) enrolled in a certificate course in management also doubling as a prerequisite to entry into an Executive MBA programme. The results, based on the analysis of the ensuing communities and that of a self-report questionnaire, provide insight into the student use of a virtual space for the development of a collaborative learning community and their perception of such a tool for collaboration. The changes made from one iteration to the next allow for a better understanding of what is needed to encourage students to embrace what, for them too, are changes in the learning experience. The paper closes with a discussion of the development of such a community and practical suggestions of how to make it work.
Although developing and emerging market firms (southern MNCs) are increasingly engaged in outward FDI in European advanced economies, we have an incomplete and inconsistent understanding of whether, and under what conditions, this investment may benefit the local economy. Our paper addresses this issue by examining whether local firms may benefit from the entry and the presence of southern MNCs in services/construction industry. We argue that analyzing spillovers from southern MNCs needs to distinguish these effects according to how they take place as well as the technological characteristics of local knowledge receivers. Using firms-level data from Switzerland, we found that local firms need to upgrade their human capital to take benefit from the entry and presence of southern MNCs in their industry; otherwise the presence of southern MNCs reduces the productivity of local services/construction firms in Switzerland. No benefit is found from competition effects. Moreover, interactions between different technological capacities of local firms and the ways they benefit from spillovers from southern MNCs provide differences in spillover results.
Pratique du marketing est un ouvrage à mettre entre les mains de toutes celles et ceux qui souhaitent découvrir les principaux concepts et outils du marketing dans une perspective pratique. Il s’adresse plus particulièrement aux étudiants qui se préparent aux examens de la maturité professionnelle commerciale ou qui se trouvent en début de programme Bachelor des Universités et Hautes écoles de gestion. Il ne s’agit pas d’un manuel de marketing management de plus, mais d’un ouvrage qui aborde le marketing de manière pratique. Il est illustré de nombreux exemples propres à la Suisse, et notamment à la Suisse romande. C’est ce qui fait sa spécificité et sa proximité. Chaque chapitre est introduit par la présentation des objectifs pédagogiques, par un plan des éléments-clés abordés et par une situation qui introduit la matière. Richement agrémenté d’exemples pratiques illustrant les concepts, le sujet se termine par un point d’arrivée, un cas et des questions de révision ou d’approfondissement. Pratique du marketing présente de manière claire et didactique les notions et les outils du marketing actuel, et permet de les mettre aisément en application.
This study examines how foreign R&D investment may explain interfirm variations in productivity performance of home country firms in terms of spillovers. Many have studied spillovers from MNCs to host country’s firms, but there is still scarce evidence on spillovers from outward FDI to the home country. This study analyzes spillovers from foreign R&D investment and hypothesizes that the benefit of outward R&D spillovers occurs only when knowledge accumulated in foreign R&D centers is effectively transferred to MNCs’ parent companies at home. This benefit depends on the mandate of foreign R&D units, their embeddedness in the host economy, and their entry mode. Using detailed firm-level data for Switzerland, our findings seem to support our arguments.
This study demonstrates how reverse knowledge transfer (RKT) explains inter-firm variations in productivity performance of multinational companies (MNCs) investing in foreign R&D. More specifically, it investigates the factors that influence the extent to which knowledge transfer from foreign units to parent companies (RKT) enhances the productivity performance of the MNC at home. Based on interviews and regression analyses using detailed firm data from Swiss manufacturing, we found evidence that (a) well integrated foreign units in the whole company through close management cooperation with their parent companies contribute in enhancing RKT process. (b) The effect of RKT is higher when parent companies have high technological capacities.
Purpose: The business model innovation construct is gaining substantive attention in management literature, emphasizing its role for creating and sustaining a firm’s competitive advantage in rapidly changing business environments. However, little advancement has been made toward a holistic, theory-based understanding of the nature of business model innovation, along with its context-specific antecedents and outcomes. Design: Conceptual Paper. Combining the theoretical insights of the literature on organizational routines and ‘activity system’ perspectives on business models, we refine the conceptualization of a business model as a cluster of interrelated routines, with its internal change dynamics determining the process and scope of business model innovation. Findings: First, we refine the conceptualization of business model innovation through the lens of a dynamic cluster of routines. Second, we recognize the roles and relevance of the different components of a firm’s business model innovation, setting the stage for future research scrutinizing these components and their influence on strategic direction and consequent performance. Third, by identifying the conditions under which the components of BMI lead to a firm’s value creation and capture, we bring answers to questions such as “What leads to significant performance differences within an industry?” and “How do firms sustain such differences over time?” Originality / Value: We distinguish between potential and realized business model innovation processes, and derive theoretical propositions regarding external and internal environment, business model innovation, and value creation and value capture.
Purpose: While business model innovations are critical to a company’s long-term strategy, they are still poorly understood compared to other kinds of innovations. In this paper, we investigate prior research and reframe business model innovation through a top management lens. Design: We report on a content analysis of interviews with top managers of small and medium enterprises in the technology industry, with the aim of recording their definition of business model innovation and their impact on strategy. Findings: Practitioners perceive BMI more as a way of orchestrating a new approach in order to reach new customers and markets with innovative products, than about engineering new revenue possibilities or maintaining existing ones. It is more about reaching new (market and products) than re-configuring existing resources and capabilities to generate supra returns. It is not about optimization of the existing, but creation of the new. It is not a vehicle for facing existing challenges or constraints, nor for keeping the existing business sustainable, but a way to explore new possibilities in an outward manner. Research limitations: The patterns emerging in this research must be interpreted within the limitations of an exploratory research design, particularly its inability to determine directions of causality. Moreover, the data set and analytical processes used in this research present certain limits. Originality / Value: Findings open new directions for theory development and empirical studies in the business model and strategic management literature.
