Determinants of adoption for organisational innovations approaching saturationAlan A. Brandyberry
doi: 10.1108/14601060310486226pmid: N/A
A large-scale random sample is used to empirically examine the relationships between adoption of computer-aided design (CAD) and five organisational characteristics that are likely to affect the probability of a firm adopting an information technology. The organisational characteristics tested are bureaucratic control, internal communication, external communication, organisational innovation, and the firm's size. Results indicate that bureaucratic control, internal communication, and external communication do affect the likelihood of a firm adopting CAD but organisational innovation and organisational size do not. These results suggest there are differences and similarities between the organisational influences associated with classic adoption models developed with emerging technologies and the organisational influences associated with CAD adoption and possibly other mature information technologies.
Knowledge integration processes and the appropriation of innovationsDonald Hislop
doi: 10.1108/14601060310486235pmid: N/A
This paper examines the appropriation of innovations in a number of qualitative case studies through the theoretical lens of the activity based perspective on knowledge. Because knowledge is deeply embedded within its context of use, and the practices through which it is utilized, the knowledge base of most organizations is highly distributed. This means that innovation processes which are multi-site, or cross functional in scale, are likely to involve the integration, and reconfiguration of diverse bodies of internal, organizational knowledge. This suggests that one of the dominant themes in the contemporary innovation literature, which emphasizes the extent to which they involve the integration of internal and external knowledge, requires to be re-evaluated to take greater account of equally important processes of internal knowledge integration. Further, the embeddedness of knowledge in practice, means that the blending together of such diverse bodies' knowledge is likely to involve processes of intensive social interaction.
Memes and cognitive hardwiring: why are some memes more successful than others?Richard J. Pech
doi: 10.1108/14601060310486244pmid: N/A
Memes communicate ideas and some memes are more successful at doing this than others. The reason for such success has been hotly debated. It is argued that there is an ontogenetic explanation for meme success in that a feature of the successful meme's content or message may more readily conform to the mind's evolved structure. The hardwiring of the mind facilitates learning but some information is often more palatable than others. In a competitive environment where the mind can process only a limited amount of information, information that does not conform to our evolved cognitive structures and the implicit rules under which our minds work best, will be less likely to be accepted. This suggests that we are more susceptible to instinct or hardwired cognitive behaviours than we may like to admit. This has numerous implications for people working in advertising, marketing, and management.
The need for a new product development framework for engineer‐to‐order productsAbd. Rahman Abdul Rahim; Mohd. Shariff Nabi Baksh
doi: 10.1108/14601060310486253pmid: N/A
New product development (NPD) is the cornerstone of manufacturing companies. An engineer-to-order (ETO) company can achieve its business objectives by reducing design iterations and rework, recognizing customer's requirements up-front and building quality into design and manufacturing. This paper discusses differences between ETO and make-to-stock (MTS) companies and justifies the need for a separate framework for ETO in NPD. Four frameworks from published literature were analyzed and it was found that the frameworks were not suitable for ETO companies due to the differences in operations and product design activities. This paper proposes a set of requirements for establishing a design and manufacture framework specifically for ETO companies. The framework can aid design and manufacturing engineers to plan their work to include customers, suppliers, consultants, contractors and manufacturing concern during the design stage. The framework requirements can serve as a foundation of further work to be carried out in this area.