Asking why

The growth of a solid, knowledge-intensive firm, OutSystems—an IT company recognized in 2003 by Fortune magazine as one of the most promising start-ups in the world—is accompanied by efforts to create a strong culture that preserves the traits that have driven OutSystems’ success and that drives innovation, adaptability, high performance, and accountability. The lessons OutSystems learned from previous international experiences are presented along with its latest growth model of branded local partners. The case study is intended to introduce concepts related to organizational culture, traits of cultures that drive innovation, national versus organizational culture, and the challenges of globalization. It is designed to be used in Organizational Behavior classes and is appropriate for MBA- and Master’s-level courses in the area of management. It is suggested as a guideline for 60- to 90-minute classes. Participants are invited to discuss the importance of organizational cultures and their fit with the company strategy. Participants are also encouraged to brainstorm about the best approach to face OutSystems’ new stage of growth, specifically the advantages and consequences of growing as a metanational company. Finally, in the conclusion, the most relevant findings taken from the discussions proposed are revisited: The importance of an organizational culture adapted to the market needs and the potential of innovation behind metanational companies. Other considerations are made about: how the case illustrates the importance of leadership, group age, and group size in the process of building a culture; and how OutSystems’ culture solves the apparent contradiction behind adaptable culture.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Oil and Gas Industry: Environmental Management Systems as a Source of Sustainable Development

The environmental aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expressed through the process of the EMS implementation in the oil and gas companies is identified as the main subject of this research. In the theoretical part, the basic attention is paid to justification of a link between CSR and environmental management. The achievement of sustainable competitive advantage as a result of environmental capital growth and inclusion of the socially responsible activities in the corporate strategy is another issue that is of special significance here. Besides, two basic forms of environmental management systems (environmental decision support systems and environmental information management systems) are explored and their role in effective stakeholder interaction is tackled. The most crucial benefits of EMS are also analyzed to underline its importance as a source of sustainable development. Further research is based on the survey of 51 sampled oil and gas companies (both publicly owned and state owned ones) originated from different countries all over the world and providing reports on sustainability issues in the open access. To analyze their approach to sustainable development, a specifically designed evaluation matrix with 37 indicators developed in accordance with the General Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines for non-financial reporting was prepared. Additionally, the quality of environmental information disclosure was measured on the basis of a quality – quantity matrix. According to results of research, oil and gas companies prefer implementing reactive measures to the costly and knowledge-intensive proactive techniques for elimination of the negative environmental impacts. Besides, it was identified that the environmental performance disclosure is mostly rather limited, so that the quality of non-financial reporting can be judged as quite insufficient. In spite of the fact that most of the oil and gas companies in the sample claim the EMS to be embedded currently in their structure, they often do not provide any details for the process of their implementation. As a potential for the further development of EMS, author mentions possible integration of their different forms in a single entity, extension of existing structure on the basis of consolidation of the structural and strategic precautions as well as development of a unified certification standard instead of several ones that exist today in order to enhance control on the EMS implementation.

Productizing professional marketing services through service blueprinting

The goal of this research is to study how knowledge-intensive business services can be productized by using the service blueprinting tool. As services provide the majority of jobs, GDP and productivity growth in Europe, their continuous development is needed for Europe to retain its global competitiveness. As services are turning more complex, their development becomes more difficult. The theoretical part of this study is based on researching productization in the context of knowledge-intensive business services. The empirical part is carried out as a case study in a KIBS company, and utilizes qualitative interviews and case materials. The final outcome of this study is an updated productization framework, designed for KIBS companies, and recommendations for the case company. As the results of this study indicate, productization expanded with service blueprinting can be a useful tool for KIBS companies to develop their services. The updated productization framework is provided for future reference.

Tiedon jakamiseen vaikuttavat tekijät asiantuntijatyössä

Yhteiskunnan muuttuessa entistä tietovaltaisemmaksi, tiedon jakaminen nähdään kaikkein merkittävimpänä tietoprosessina organisaation kehittymisen kannalta. Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa selvitettiin, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat tiedon jakamiseen asiantuntijatyössä. Tutkimus toteutettiin tapaustutkimuksena ja aineisto analysoitiin teorialähtöisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella asiantuntijatyötä tekevien tiedon jakamiseen vaikuttavat tekjiät ovat sisäinen motivaatio, yksilöiden välinen luottamus sekä organisaation rakenne ja kulttuuri. Tutkimuksen mukaan työ itsessään palkitsee ja motivoi tiedon jakamiseen, mutta yksilöiden välillä tulee olla hyväntahtoisuuteen ja pätevyyteen liittyvää luottamusta. Organisaation hierarkkisuus, käytettävissä olevan ajan, yhteisöllisyyden ja arvostuksen puute heikentävät tiedon jakamista. Sitä vastoin organisaation avoin kulttuuri tukee tiedon jakamista. Rahallisen palkitsemisen ei nähty vaikuttavan tiedon jakamiseen.

The Wrong Kind of Lean: Over-Commitment and Under-Represented Skills on Technology Teams

This paper reports on results from five companies in the aerospace and automotive industries to show that over-commitment of technical professionals and under-representation of key skills on technology development and transition teams seriously impairs team performance. The research finds that 40 percent of the projects studied were inadequately staffed, resulting in weaker team communications and alignment. Most importantly, the weak staffing on these teams is found to be associated with a doubling of project failure rate to reach full production. Those weakly staffed teams that did successfully insert technology into production systems were also much more likely than other teams to have development delays and late engineering changes. The conclusion suggests that the expense of project failure, delay and late engineering changes in these companies must greatly out-weigh the savings gained from reduced staffing costs, and that this problem is likely going to be found in other technology-intensive firms intent on seeing project budgets as a cost to be minimized rather than an investment to be maximized.

Developing construction professional services in the international market: SWOT analysis of China

Construction professional services (CPSs), such as architecture, engineering, and consultancy, are not only high value-added profit centers in their own right but also have a knock-on effect on other businesses, such as construction and the export of materials and machinery. Arguably, competition in the international construction market has shifted to these knowledge-intensive CPS areas. Yet CPSs represent a research frontier that has received scant attention. This research aims to enrich the body of knowledge on CPSs by examining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of Chinese CPSs (CCPSs) in the international context. It does so by triangulating theories with quantitative and qualitative data gleaned from yearbooks, annual reports, interviews, seminars, and interactions with managers in major CCPS companies. It is found that CCPSs present both strengths and weaknesses in talents, administration systems, and development strategies in dealing with the external opportunities and threats brought about by globalization and market evolution. Low price, which has helped the Chinese construction business to succeed in the international market, is also a major CCPS strength. An opportunity for CCPSs is the relatively strong delivery capability possessed by Chinese contractors; by partnering with them CCPSs can better establish themselves in the international arena. This is probably the first ever comprehensive study on the performance of CCPSs in the international marketplace. The research is conducted at an opportune time, particularly when the world is witnessing the burgeoning force of Chinese businesses in many areas including manufacturing, construction, and, potentially, professional services. It adds new insights to the knowledge body of CPSs and provides valuable references to other countries faced with the challenge of developing CPS business efficiently in the international market.

Developing construction professional services in the international market: a SWOT analysis of China

In contrast to their bustling construction counterparts, Chinese construction professional services (CPS) such as architecture, engineering, and consultancy, seem still to be stagnant in the international market. CPS are not only high value-added profit centers in their own right, but also have a knock-on effect on subsequent businesses such as construction, and the export of materials and machinery. Arguably, competition in the international construction market has shifted to knowledge-intensive CPS. Yet,CPS represent a research area that has been paid scant attention. This research aims to add to the body of knowledge of CPS by examining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of Chinese CPS (CCPS) in the international context. It does so by triangulating theories with quantitative and qualitative data gleaned from yearbooks, annual reports, interviews, seminars, and interactions with managers in major CCPS companies. It is found that CCPS present both strengths and weaknesses in talents, administration systems, and development strategies in dealing with the external opportunities and threats brought about by globalization and market evolvement. Low price, which has helped the Chinese construction business to succeed in the international market, is also a CCPS major strength. An opportunity for CCPS is the relatively strong delivery capability possessed by Chinese contractors. By partnering with them CCPS can better edge into the international arena. This is probably the first ever comprehensive study in investigating the performance of CCPS in the international market. The research is also timely, particularly when the world is witnessing the burgeoning force of Chinese businesses in many areas including manufacturing, construction, and potentially, professional services.

The functions of intermediaries in Swedish SMEs internationalization to the Nigerian market

Over the years so many academic literatures has revealed that increased number of firms have seen internationalization as a means to gain and sustain competitive advantage and even increase economic of scale, and this has led many western companies to emerging markets. In this paper we discovered that among the pool of Swedish firms, only the MNEs have seen Nigerian market attractive to internationalize to, but just a few of the Swedish SMEs has expanded to the Nigerian market. This research was conducted by doing a qualitative study with the use of phenomenological research approach, during our investigation on the functions of intermediaries in Swedish SMEs internationalization to Nigeria market.Furthermore, we were able to understand the importance and functions of the different marketing intermediaries’ in Swedish SMEs internationalization to Nigeria market. These intermediaries equip the Swedish firms with the required objective knowledge of the Nigerian market, updating them with recent development of the opportunities and threats involved in the Nigerian marketing environment, and linking these Swedish firms to the required government departments, distributors, agent/broker, customers, middle men etc, thereby impacting them with the experiential knowledge. Moreover, it is important for firms to have objective or pre-market knowledge of a particular market before entering that market, but this knowledge is regarded as non-helpful knowledge to firms. But the experiential knowledge is acquired over time in the market, which is regarded as the helpful knowledge. It is evident that the intermediaries equip these firms with both objective and experiential knowledge.Although the opportunities in some emerging markets are very attractive, but the threats in these markets are other factors firms also put into consideration before internationalizing to these markets. This is why thorough market research has to be done so that firms can create effective marketing strategies when they want to expand their marketing activities to emerging markets. Despite the risk and uncertainties involved in doing business in foreign countries, still yet companies selling global products do not have any choice than to internationalize their marketing operations.

Examining partner experience in cross-sector collaborative projects focused on the commercialization of R & D

The paper reports key findings from a four year study of cross-sector collaborative R&D projects in Australia testing a theoretical model formulated to explain partner collaboration experience and perceived project success. The study contributes to the understanding of knowledge-intensive collaborations, and indicates how their benefits can be sustained under conditions of high uncertainty. The study was of cross-sector collaborative projects within the Australian Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program which involved multiple partners and which were focused on the commercialization of R&D. The model was empirically tested through a survey of project leaders and the results provided support for the three main effects hypothesized. The theoretical, methodological and practical implications of the study's findings for the field of interorganizational relations (IOR) are discussed, and a new construct of project management competence is proposed as a determinant of positive partner experiences at the project level. This study adds to the growing body of work on interorganizational collaborative arrangements by providing systematic empirical support for a theoretical model of cross-sector R&D collaboration at the project level and at the completion or near completion phase of project development.

How dynamic capabilities drive performance in the Indian IT industry : the role of information and co-ordination

This study examines key issues and effects of capability management on a fast-growing area of knowledge-intensive global business services – IT outsourcing and offshoring. An exploratory study is undertaken of Indian companies providing complex process-oriented offshore IT services to their global customers. The analysis of the data related to the service provider side shows that developing dynamic capabilities is strongly driven by management and top-clients and results in the development of business processes and in establishing a strategic partnership with the client organization. Key findings are that information exchange and coordination are the key to a leveraging firm performance.

Reconceptualising engagement : a study of Australian academics

The management of human capital is a strategic imperative for knowledge based firms such as universities. Human capital has been described as the investment in people necessary to build the skills and capabilities to operate at their full potential and enable them to act in ways that enhance the competitiveness of organisations. This thesis is set amidst the series of changes made to the Australian Higher Education sector that have had a profound effect on the management of its human capital. The changes have larg ely been driven by government policy in response to globalisation, increased competition and technological advances. As a result the climate of universities has moved to a more cost efficiency-focused managerialism. Various studies have illustrated the significant consequences for the academic workforce and the way in which work has changed in the sector. Academics now face greater accountability for the quality and quantity of their teaching and research at a time when university funding has been constrained. The results have not been all positive for the quality of academics’ working lives and evidence points to heavy workloads and a steadily disengaging workforce. Despite this, many of the sectoral changes rely on an engaged and cooperative workforce to bring about greater productivity and quality of education to attract a larger share of international and domestic students. ... The two aims of this thesis are: to clarify the current definitions of engagement by bringing together the constructs and concepts that contribute to engagement; and to provide insight into the dimensions that shape engagement in Australian business academics ... The thesis also contributes to the dialogue on human capital and in particular, how it can be harnessed in key areas such as the knowledge industries and for targeted purposes such as the management of talent.

Poder/saber e subjetividade na construção do sentido do teletrabalho

This thesis aims at fostering understanding of telework from the power/knowledge theoretical perspective. In this sense, telework is understood as a discourse that at one and the same time subjugates and builds subjectivities. To reach its objective, the author explores how teleworkers make sense out of their experience through the analysis of their discursive practices. Twenty-five teleworkers residing in Rio de Janeiro city were interviewed. All of the interviewees are teleworkers who hold stead job positions and perform knowledge- intensive tasks.

A força motriz das organizações : potencializando a capacidade tecnologica atraves da gerencia inovadora

A Dissertação procura demonstrar a viabilidade de capacitação das organizações empresarias dos países em desenvolvimento - notadamente as brasileiras - para atuar sob o padrão de competitividade econômica intensivo em conhecimento, a despeito das defasagens estruturaís das economias desses países. A partir da estratégia de potencialização da capacidade tecnológica nas organizações, tal proposição é comprovada através da aplicação da teoria da gestão contemporânea, combinada com as experiências de "practitioners" organizacionais e com as evidências empíricas colhidas junto a dirigentes da amostra de 28 empresas. Inicialmente, é esboçado o significado atual de tecnologia, sob a perspectiva organizacional, e analisadas as principais transformações da ambiência externa que interferem na gestão da capacidade tecnológica das empresas. Em seguida, o estudo define duas estratégias consideradas viáveis à capacitação tecnológica empresarial, quais sejam: a) aprendizagem tecnológica e capacitação organizacional e b) modalidades de cooperação tecnológica inter-empresarial, com ênfase na gestão das "joint-ventures" internacionais. O estudo conclui que apesar da crise do Estado e da instabilidade, vigentes na economia brasileira, identifica-se, em seu setor produtivo nichos de empresas engajadas em processos de capacitação tecnológica, através das estratégias aqui abordadas. aptas a competir no mercado global do próximo milênio. Essas evidências confirmam a viabilidade de tais estratégias, tornando-as úteis às empresas que desejam atualizar-se frente as atuais tendências de gestão tecnológica.

A trajetória do ambiente jurídico-institucional do setor de software no Brasil e na Índia: identidades, diferenças e repercussões

Há mais de 30 anos o Brasil tem desenvolvido políticas específicas para o setor de informática, desde a Política Nacional de Informática da década de 70, passando pelo Período de Reserva de Mercado dos anos 80 e, nos dias de hoje, em que as Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) são tidas como uma das áreas prioritárias na Política Industrial. Dentre as metas atuais, destaca-se o foco na ampliação do volume de exportações de software e serviços. Contudo, apesar dessas pretensões, o país não tem tido destaque internacional expressivo para o setor. Por outro lado, a Índia, também considerada como um país emergente, figurando na lista dos BRIC, foi responsável pela exportação de cerca de US$47 bilhões em software e serviços de Tecnologia da Informação (TI) em 2009, se destacando como um país protagonista no mercado internacional do setor. A implementação de uma indústria tecnicamente sofisticada como a do software, que exige um ambiente propício à inovação, em um país em desenvolvimento como a Índia chama a atenção. De certo existiram arranjos jurídico-institucionais que foram utilizados naquele país. Quais? Em que medida tais arranjos ajudaram no desenvolvimento indiano do setor? E no Brasil? Este trabalho parte da hipótese de que o ambiente jurídico-institucional desses países definiu fluxos de conhecimento distintos, influenciando o tipo de desenvolvimento do setor de software de cada um. Averiguar como, entre outros fatores sócio-econômicos, esses arranjos jurídico-institucionais influenciaram na conformação diversa de fluxos de conhecimento é o objetivo específico desta pesquisa. Entende-se aqui como ambiente jurídico-institucional todas as regulamentações que estabelecem instituições, diretrizes e condições comuns para determinado tema. Partindo do pressuposto de que o setor de software desenvolve atividades intensivas em conhecimento, para cada país em questão, serão analisados apenas arranjos jurídico-institucionais que tiveram, ou têm, poder de delimitar o fluxo de conhecimento referente ao setor, sejam eles provenientes de políticas comerciais (de exportação e importação, ou de propriedade intelectual) ou de políticas de investimento para inovação. A questão fundamental ultrapassa o debate se o Estado deve ou não intervir, para focar-se na análise sobre os diferentes tipos de envolvimento observados e quais os seus efeitos. Para tal, além de revisão bibliográfica, foi feita uma pesquisa de campo na Índia (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore) e no Brasil (São Paulo, Brasília e Rio de Janeiro), onde foram conduzidas entrevistas com empresas e associações de software, gestores públicos e acadêmicos que estudam o setor.

O papel da confiança na coprodução

Esse trabalho investigou empiricamente a influência que a confiança que o cliente deposita no prestador de serviços exerce sobre a efetividade da coprodução do cliente em serviços intensivos em conhecimento baseados em tecnologia. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão da literatura de marketing de serviços e de gerenciamento de operações sobre a participação do cliente na produção e entrega de serviços, que é o que caracteriza genericamente a coprodução do cliente. Também foi revisada a literatura sobre serviços intensivos em conhecimento, em busca de entender suas características e especificidades, e sobre confiança, especialmente na área de marketing de relacionamento. Sobre a participação do cliente na produção e entrega de serviços, constatou-se que existe na literatura uma visão consagrada que trata o cliente como “funcionário parcial” da empresa durante os encontros de serviços. Essa visão propõe recorrentemente um modelo conceitual em que a efetividade da coprodução do cliente apresenta três antecedentes fundamentais: clareza de papel, motivação e expertise do cliente. Além disso, foi identificada uma proposição teórica especificamente para o setor de serviços intensivos em conhecimento, nunca testada empiricamente, que sugere que esses três antecedentes da efetividade da coprodução são influenciados por um conjunto de comportamentos colaborativos desejáveis, batizados de responsabilidades do papel do cliente. Dessa forma, este trabalho testou um modelo conceitual que estabeleceu a confiança e as responsabilidades do papel do cliente como antecedentes da clareza de papel, motivação e expertise do cliente no processo de coprodução do cliente. Foi utilizada uma abordagem quantitativa e os dados foram levantados junto a profissionais que já participaram de projetos de software na condição de clientes. A coleta de dados usou um questionário estruturado construído a partir de escalas de mensuração de estudos anteriores. As relações entre os conceitos foram testadas por meio da técnica de modelagem de equações estruturais. Os resultados obtidos apresentaram evidências de que a confiança e as responsabilidades do papel do cliente impactam positivamente a clareza de papel, a motivação ou a expertise do cliente, abrindo espaço para pesquisas futuras que aprofundem o entendimento das relações entre esses conceitos e sua importância para a efetividade da coprodução do cliente.