Tech Innovation in the Family Context

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Editor’s note: We are pleased to welcome Dr. Alfredo De Massis of the University of Bergamo, Italy, who published the lead article in the Family Business Review March issue, “Research on Technological Innovation in Family Firms: Present Debates and Future Directions,” co-authored by Federico Frattini of Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and Ulrich Lichtenthaler of the University of Mannheim, Germany.

My interest in this topic stemmed from the fact that what technological innovation management handbooks propose as universally applicable good practices cannot always be applied to family firms. In the past I have worked for many years as a management consultant for several family firms, and now I am used to having close and frequent interactions with many Italian family firms that are enrolled at the Center for Young & Family Enterprise (CYFE) of the University of Bergamo that I am co-directing. Throughout all this experience in innovation management projects, I was very surprised to see how often traditional ingredients for success in technological innovation did not work in the specific context of family firms.

It was surprising to see the high extent to which several well-established innovation management frameworks can be challenged and extended when we take into account the “family” variable. The high number of research gaps and opportunities for future research in the field of technological innovation in family firms, that have emerged from this study, is another unexpected result.

This article has developed a future research agenda suggesting major research avenues to guide future theoretical and empirical research toward a better understanding of technological innovation in the context of family firms. This topic is highly relevant from a practical point of view because there is a growing body of empirical evidence showing that family firms use technological innovation to nurture their competitive advantage and to overcome economic and financial downturns. Innovative family firms have thus become an object of growing attention for management scholars and practitioners, and I think that this study has opened up a new avenue for future research at the intersection of technological innovation and family business. I hope innovation management scholars will start devoting increasing attention to the ubiquitous form of business organization of family firms.

Click here to read “Research on Technological Innovation in Family Firms: Present Debates and Future Directions” in Family Business Review.

Prof. Alfredo De Massis, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Family Business at University of Bergamo (Italy), co-founder and Deputy Director of the research Center for Young and Family Enterprise (CYFE) of the same University. He is Chair of the STEP European Leadership Council and member of the Global Board of the STEP Project for Family Enterprising, Member of the Advisory Committee of the Family Enterprise Research Conference (FERC), and Program Chair-Elect for the “Special Interest Group on Family Business Research” at the European Academy of Management (EURAM). He has been TOFT Visiting Professor at Jonkoping International Business School (Sweden) and a visiting scholar at the Haskayne School of Business and the University of Manitoba (Canada). He has also been Manager in SCS Consulting, senior consultant in the Strategy service line of Accenture and financial analyst at the Italian Stock Exchange. His research and teaching is focused on innovation and technology management in family firms, family business goals, and intra-family succession. He has authored 6 books and more than 120 papers published on international and national journals and conference proceedings. His research has appeared, among others, in Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Small Business Management, Family Business Review, Journal of Technology Transfer, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, International Journal of Technology Management. His most recent book (co-authored with Pramodita Sharma, Jess H. Chua and James J. Chrisman) is entitled Family Business Studies: an Annotated Bibliography, Edward Elgar, 2012.

How Technology Can Improve Creative Leadership

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Advances in Developing Human Resources has published an article outlining objectives for developing creative and innovative leadership, as well as recommendations for how technology–including e-mentoring, multisource feedback, social media and more–can be leveraged to achieve those objectives:

Leaders must think creatively and facilitate the creative work of others, but traditional approaches to developing leaders have not fully addressed this need. A key problem with regard to developing creative and innovative leadership capacity is the lack of clearly articulated objectives for developmental programs. Moreover, novel developmental tools and techniques may be necessary to develop these capacities. We provide a synthesis of what the existing literature indicates must be developed to facilitate creative and innovative leadership. We present the requisite knowledge and skills—complete with developmental objectives, learning prompts, and reflection questions—in a practical, summarized format. Next, we explore how creative/innovative leadership capacity in organizations might be enhanced by leveraging technology via simulations, e-mentoring, multisource feedback, social media, and succession planning programs. The design and implementation of a creative/innovative leadership program requires a shared investment by key stakeholders—senior executives, employees, managers/leaders, mentors, information technology experts, and human resource development professionals. We review the key concerns for these stakeholders and outline specific considerations for human resource development professionals.

Read the article by Alison L. Antes of Northern Kentucky University and Matthew J. Schuelke of the Air Force Research Laboratory, “Leveraging Technology to Develop Creative Leadership Capacity,” published in the August 2011 issue of Advances in Developing Human Resources, and sign up for a-alerts here to be notified when the latest HRD research is available online.

JSR Welcomes New Editor Mary Jo Bitner

The Journal of Service Research is proud to announce its next Editor, Dr. Mary Jo Bitner. Dr. Bitner, a highly respected professor and researcher with more than 25 years experience, is recognized for her contributions to the founding and expansion of the service marketing and management field. She is currently a Professor of Marketing at the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. In addition, she serves as both the PetSmart Chair in Services Leadership and Executive Director of the Center for Services Leadership. Dr. Bitner will be assuming the role of editor beginning June 2013. Learn more about her research interests here, and catch up on her recent articles in the Journal of Service Research:

“High Tech and High Touch: A Framework for Understanding User Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Smart Interactive Services” –published on June 11, 2012 by Nancy V. Wunderlich of the University of Paderborn, Florian v. Wangenheim of Technische Universitat Munchen, and Mary Jo Bitner of Arizona State University

“Moving Forward and Making a Difference: Research Priorities for the Science of Service” –published in the February 2010 issue by Amy L. Ostrom, Mary Jo Bitner, Stephen W. Brown, Kevin A. Burkhard, Michael Goul, Vicki Smith-Daniels, Haluk Demirkan, and Elliot Rabinovich, all of Arizona State University

Publish Your Business Communication Research!

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Business Communication Quarterly, the only refereed journal devoted solely to the teaching of communication in the workplace, is now accepting submissions.

Benefits of Publishing in This Journal
When you publish in Business Communication Quarterly, you will benefit from:

• Rigorous peer review of your research
• Prompt publishing
• Guaranteed targeted, multidisciplinary audience
• High visibility for maximum global exposure

About the Journal
Business Communication Quarterly (BCQ) is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the teaching of business communication. It aims to present the many interdisciplinary, international, and organizational perspectives that characterize the field. It is an official journal of the Association for Business Communication (ABC).

Submit Papers In These Areas
Articles in BCQ present a variety of theoretical, applied, and practical approaches and perspectives. We invite you to submit papers in any of the following areas:

• program design and assessment
• the impact of technology
• global and multicultural issues
• qualitative and quantitative research on classroom teaching
• case studies of best practices

Articles should be submitted via the Manuscript Central online submission system at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bcq, and authors should follow the submission guidelines provided here.

Moving Forward and Making a Difference

Amy L. Ostrom, Mary Jo Bitner, Stephen W. Brown, Kevin A. Burkhard, Michael Goul, Vicki Smith-Daniels, Haluk Demirkan, and Elliot Rabinovich, all of Arizona State University, published “Moving Forward and Making a Difference: Research Priorities for the Science of Service” in the February 2010 issue of Journal of Service Research.

The abstract:

Given the significant, sustained growth in services experienced worldwide, Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership embarked on an 18-month effort to identify and articulate a set of global, interdisciplinary research priorities focused on the science of service. Diverse participation from academics in a variety of disciplines working in institutions

around the world—in collaboration with business executives who lead organizations ranging from small startups to Global 1000 companies—formed the basis for development of the priorities. The process led to the identification of the following 10 overarching research priorities:

• Fostering service infusion and growth

• Improving well-being through transformative service

• Creating and maintaining a service culture

• Stimulating service innovation

• Enhancing service design

• Optimizing service networks and value chains

• Effectively branding and selling services

• Enhancing the service experience through cocreation

• Measuring and optimizing the value of service

• Leveraging technology to advance service

For each priority, several important and more specific topic areas for service research emerged from the process. The intent is that the priorities will spur service research by shedding light on the areas of greatest value and potential return to academia, business, and government. Through academic, business, and government collaboration, we can enhance our understanding of service and create new knowledge to help tackle the most important opportunities and challenges we face today.

Kevin Burkhard interviews the authors in a series of three podcasts about the article. In the first podcast, Kevin Burkhard interviews Amy Ostrom and Mary Jo Bitner. Given the significant, sustained growth in services experienced worldwide, Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership embarked on an 18-month effort to identify and articulate a set of global, interdisciplinary research priorities focused on the science of service. This podcast gives an overview of the project.

To learn more about the Journal of Service Research, click here.

Are you interested in receiving email alerts whenever a new article or issue becomes available online? Then follow this link.

Moving Forward and Making a Difference

Amy L. Ostrom, Mary Jo Bitner, Stephen W. Brown, Kevin A. Burkhard, Michael Goul, Vicki Smith-Daniels, Haluk Demirkan, and Elliot Rabinovich, all of Arizona State University, published “Moving Forward and Making a Difference: Research Priorities for the Science of Service” in the February 2010 issue of Journal of Service Research.

The abstract:

Given the significant, sustained growth in services experienced worldwide, Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership embarked on an 18-month effort to identify and articulate a set of global, interdisciplinary research priorities focused on the science of service. Diverse participation from academics in a variety of disciplines working in institutions

around the world—in collaboration with business executives who lead organizations ranging from small startups to Global 1000 companies—formed the basis for development of the priorities. The process led to the identification of the following 10 overarching research priorities:

• Fostering service infusion and growth

• Improving well-being through transformative service

• Creating and maintaining a service culture

• Stimulating service innovation

• Enhancing service design

• Optimizing service networks and value chains

• Effectively branding and selling services

• Enhancing the service experience through cocreation

• Measuring and optimizing the value of service

• Leveraging technology to advance service

For each priority, several important and more specific topic areas for service research emerged from the process. The intent is that the priorities will spur service research by shedding light on the areas of greatest value and potential return to academia, business, and government. Through academic, business, and government collaboration, we can enhance our understanding of service and create new knowledge to help tackle the most important opportunities and challenges we face today.

Kevin Burkhard interviews the authors in a series of three podcasts about the article. In the first podcast, Kevin Burkhard interviews Amy Ostrom and Mary Jo Bitner. Given the significant, sustained growth in services experienced worldwide, Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership embarked on an 18-month effort to identify and articulate a set of global, interdisciplinary research priorities focused on the science of service. This podcast gives an overview of the project.

To learn more about the Journal of Service Research, click here.

Are you interested in receiving email alerts whenever a new article or issue becomes available online? Then follow this link.

Performance Management Systems, Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our themed post on “Performance Management!”

The Journal of Management Education will answer the following question:

What is the role of Performance Management in education?

Troy V. Mumford, Colorado State University, published “Developing Performance Management Competence : An Exercise Leveraging Video Technology and Multisource Feedback” in the October 2009 issue.

The ability to competently manage employee performance is critical for students graduating with degrees in management. This article provides a competency development exercise (CDE) for use in graduate and undergraduate management courses to increase students’ performance management competence. The CDE includes providing employee feedback, disciplining employees, and conducting termination meetings. Procedures and assessment tools are provided for utilizing the exercise in conjunction with video technology and multisource feedback. In addition, guidance is given for adapting and condensing the CDE from 3-6 hr to 30-60 min. Finally, data are presented showing that the exercise significantly affected students’ performance management competence.

Treena L. Gillespie, University of South Alabama, and Richard O. Parry, California State University, Fullerton, published “Students as Employees : Applying Performance Management Principles in the Management Classroom” in the March 2008 issue.

The student-as-employee metaphor emphasizes student accountability and participation in learning and provides instructors with work-oriented methods for creating a productive class environment. The authors propose that the tenets of performance management in work organizations can be applied to the classroom. In particular, they focus on three important areas within performance management: identifying performance, developing performance, and dealing with the social environment associated with managing performance. Beyond implications for course management, the authors discuss the instructor’s role in the performance management process, directions for future research, and the value of these classroom practices for the work setting.

For more information about the Journal of Management Education, please click here. Are you interested in being alerted whenever there is a new article or issue? If so, please follow this link.

Moving Forward and Making a Difference

Amy L. Ostrom, Mary Jo Bitner, Stephen W. Brown, Kevin A. Burkhard, Michael Goul, Vicki Smith-Daniels, Haluk Demirkan, all of Arizona State University, published “Moving Forward and Making a Difference: Research Priorities for the Science of Service” in the February 2010 issue of Journal of Service Research.

Dr. Ostrom and Dr. Burkhard shared some background information about the article.

We, along with our co-authors, observed the explosion of interest and research in the field of service coming from a variety of fields. We also knew through our engagement and work with a range of organizations through the Center for Services Leadership that service and service related topics were rapidly becoming an area of focus and investment. Despite the increased attention and effort, we felt the service field could and should be advanced in more of an integrated manner. With this as the backdrop, we saw an opportunity to identify high-value strategic research topics that could act as a catalyst for research and collaboration going forward by securing perspectives and insights from a diverse set of academics and organizational leaders. We think that is why the article has been so well received. Service-minded researchers and organizational leaders are often looking for inspiration, direction, and ideas to drive their research and investments as well as a platform for identifying research partnerships.

We thoroughly enjoyed conducting this research. It was intriguing to hear the viewpoints of so many service-minded individuals on the future of the service field. Through this process, it was extremely encouraging to hear the significant overlap in high priority research areas and questions from academia and industry. It reinforced our belief that advancing the field of service could and should be done through collaborative partnerships within and across academia and industry. The writing of the article was challenging yet enjoyable. To try to cover the service field, we had 8 co-authors and invited more than 40 commentary authors to make contributions. Through this unique model, we found that constructing and even formatting the article was a challenge. However, the Editor, Dr. Kay Lemon, and a handful of reviewers gave us extremely helpful feedback and guidance throughout the whole process.

We are extremely excited about the impact the article has had to date. We are already starting to see it cited in recent publications. We have noted work being done in several priority areas including service infusion and transformative service research. There were special sessions on both of these topics at the 2011 AMA Winter Marketing Educators’ Conference. In addition, Dr. Laurie Anderson, one of the article contributors, and I (Amy Ostrom) are co-chairing a track on transformative service research at the Transformative Consumer Research Conference being held at Baylor University in June 2011. Going forward, we hope that the article continues to be read and used and makes its way into additional academic disciplines and industry groups. We see that the article is widely applicable and can bridge gaps through exposure and discussion. We look forward to seeing what additional research and new knowledge emerges in the future based on the priorities.