Collaborative Strategies in Design-intensive Industries: Knowledge Diversity and Innovation

Dell’Era, Claudio; Verganti, Roberto

doi:10.1016/j.lrp.2009.10.006

Cited by 144 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…That is, how knowledge gained from one client can be used to explore or exploit across client relationships in the portfolio, or how the value of knowledge attained within a client relationship can shift with changes to the knowledge-base, or priorities, of the firm. This is an important omission as research on collaborative innovation (Dell'Era and Verganti, 2010) suggests that the value of knowledge attain in any one collaboration is enhanced by its integration with knowledge generated in another. Therefore, we argue for a dynamic portfolio perspective on ambidexterity that acknowledges the sources of knowledge and how it is explored and exploited, both within client relationships and across the client portfolio.…”

Section: External Relationships As a Source Of Ambidexteritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Client Portfolios as Sources of Ambidexterity: Exploration and Exploitation Within and Across Client Relationships

Bednarek¹,

Burke²,

Jarzabkowski³

et al. 2016

Long Range Planning

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This paper explains how dynamic client portfolios can be a source of ambidexterity (i.e. exploration and exploitation) for knowledge intensive firms (KIFs). Drawing from a unique qualitative dataset of firms in the global reinsurance market, we show how different types of client relationships underpin a dynamic client portfolio and become a source of ambidexterity for a KIF. We develop a process model to show how KIFs attain knowledge by segmenting their client portfolios, use that knowledge to explore and exploit within and across their client relationships, and dynamically adjust their client portfolios over time. Our study contributes to the literature on external sources of ambidexterity and dynamic management of client knowledge within KIFs.Keywords: Ambidexterity, client relationship management; knowledge intensive firms, strategic business relationship, exploration and exploitation Accepted for publication at Long Range Planning 2 IntroductionSince March's (1991) seminal work, the concept of organizational ambidexterity -the concurrent pursuit of exploitation, "the development of things already known", and exploration, the development of new knowledge (Levinthal and March, 1993, p. 105;Lavie et al., 2010) -has captured the imagination of organizational scholars. Ambidexterity is considered critical for organizational success and yet also extremely difficult to achieve within a single organization (Andriopoulos and Lewis, 2010;He and Wong, 2004;Raisch and Birkinshaw, 2008). In response to this recognized difficulty in achieving ambidexterity internally, interest in the role of external relationships in enabling ambidexterity has recently burgeoned, primarily with a focus on strategic alliances (e.g. Koza and Lewin, 1998;Lavie and Rosenkopf, 2006;Raisch and Birkinshaw, 2008;Rothaermel and Deeds, 2004). Yet, we still have much to learn about other external sources of ambidexterity, foremost among them client relationships. Initial studies highlight clients as sources of knowledge (Im and Rai, 2008), but tell us little about how knowledge is attained and used within and across client relationships to enable ambidexterity over time.The literature on knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs), by contrast, has developed some understanding of how firms can use client relationships for their own knowledge development (Bettencourt et al., 2002;Fosstenløkken et al., 2003;Skjolsvik et al. 2007). 1 Such KIFs critically rely on their ability to create, preserve and replenish a stock of valuable knowledge that they apply in their knowledge-based services (Alvesson, 1995;Moore and Birkinshaw, 1998;Starbuck, 1992;Von Nordenflycht, 2010). KIFs thus offer a useful context in which to study the potential of client relationships to fuel exploration and exploitation. Client knowledge can be a source of both exploration and exploitation within KIFs (He and Wong, 2005;Levinthal and March, 1993;Lavie et al., 2010); either refining existing knowledge, such as improving an existing solution, or 1 To maintain the authenticity of our data we ...

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Section: External Relationships As a Source Of Ambidexteritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Client Portfolios as Sources of Ambidexterity: Exploration and Exploitation Within and Across Client Relationships

Bednarek¹,

Burke²,

Jarzabkowski³

et al. 2016

Long Range Planning

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“…These 22 collaborations harness the wisdom of a wide network of architects, curators, publishers, professionals, craftsmen, artists and designers which ensure that the firm remains at the cutting edge of design (Verganti, 2006). This network, with over two hundred participants, is frequently credited for the firm's success (Dell'Era and Verganti, 2010). In this way both the artistic and business skills are present and highly regarded and there is a catalytic interrelationship between these skills.…”

Section: Benefits Of Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting the creative industries: The rationale for an exchange of thinking between the art and business schools

Kearney

Harris

2013

International Journal of Education Through Art

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“…In particular, it seems that a new competitive arena is emerging in services connected with design and creativity, rather than having a pre-existent radical change in the design and creativity professional services. In the current competitive arena, which features stable and consolidated relationships between large-scale production players, incumbent designers and design consulting firms (Capaldo 2007;Dell'Era, Verganti 2010), there is now a new scenario that features new players (including newcomer designers and small-scale producers) who base their competitive advantages on a new external networks -the beta-network -that leverage spreading creativity models. The proliferation of instruments and software open to design, the spread of cultures linked to 'making' and advanced selfproduction (Senneth 2008;Micelli 2011), together with the potential of the 2.0 web and social networks, are the key factors and the background for the development of these new forms of creativity and manufacturing.…”

Section: Emerging Issues and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business Network Dynamics and Diffusion of Innovation

Rieple¹,

Pironti²,

Pisano³

2012

Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management

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Collaborative Strategies in Design-intensive Industries: Knowledge Diversity and Innovation

Cited by 144 publications

References 43 publications

Dynamic Client Portfolios as Sources of Ambidexterity: Exploration and Exploitation Within and Across Client Relationships

Dynamic Client Portfolios as Sources of Ambidexterity: Exploration and Exploitation Within and Across Client Relationships

Supporting the creative industries: The rationale for an exchange of thinking between the art and business schools

Business Network Dynamics and Diffusion of Innovation

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