Global Business Value Innovations: Building Innovation Capabilities for Business Strategies

CHAPTER 1

 

A Comparison of MedTech Supply Chain Strategies in Switzerland and the Czech Republic

 

Bublu Thakur-Weigold ETH Zurich, Patrick Dümmler HealthTech Cluster Switzerland, and Jana Vlckova VSE Prague

 

This paper compares the Supply Chains of Medical Technology (MedTech) firms in two open European economies: highly-developed Switzerland, and the emerging Czech Republic. The focus is on MedTech because it is fast-growing and important to the economies of both locations, and like other manufacturing sectors, has undergone fragmentation of production across Global Value Chains (GVCs). Firm-level data and on-site interviews are analysed to describe MedTech supply chains in the two contrasting European locations. Both GVC methodology and Supply Chain Mapping are applied to case studies to identify factors which influence competitiveness. Supply Chain patterns and GVC positioning differ between locations because Switzerland focuses on high value-added activities such as R&D and branding. Specialized manufacturing (especially of therapeutic products), is also located there, in spite of high costs. By contrast, the Czech Republic focuses mostly on low value-added activities, such as manufacturing of disposables, although several domestic innovative companies are notable. We generalize four types of firms, and describe strategies of their supply chains within their macroeconomic conditions and business cultures.

 

 

CHAPTER 2

 

The Importance of Design Newness and Innovation: Two In-Depth Case Studies

 

Wykella Patrick, Verizon AdFellow-Account Management, McCann New York

 

New products need a certain level of newness and innovation in order to be successful in a market. These decisions of level of newness and innovation are made by the new product development (NPD) manager. In order to determine the level of value and the way consumers evaluate products, a strong understanding of consumers in the market must be present. The research explores the connection and differences between product design, design newness, and innovation and its importance to consumers. The dimensions in the idea of product design are briefly discussed. Elements of radical and incremental innovation are present throughout the research in addition to the relevance of category schema and learning cost inferences. The main goal of this research is to examine how consumers respond to product innovations through various experiments. Discovering the positive and negative influences that affect product evaluations of new products provide responses to their radical innovations. Numerous results emphasize that both design and technical newness are important drivers of sales. However, the effects differ widely across the product life cycle.  An experimental study as well as case studies are presented throughout the research to illustrate the comparisons of the high and low levels of design newness for both radical and incremental innovations. Throughout the research we also plan to address the following research question: How does the newness of a products design coincide with the purchase response to the consumer's actual use of the product? Each managerial implication outcome poses for future research.

 

Keywords:  design, design newness, radical, incremental, innovation, consumers, category schema & learning cost inferences

 

CHAPTER 3

 

How do Organizations Utilize Social Media to Innovate? Analyzing the Role of 'Absorptive Capacity' in Social Media Driven Organizational Innovations in Higher Education Initiatives

 

Cassidy Clement, Marc Donato, and Anshu Arora, Wilkes University

 

The research discusses the use of social media advertising and its consequent effects on absorptive capacity of an organization. In this research, we focus on the rewards of organizational learning and firm innovations that takes place when social media assimilation occurs in both network participation and advertisement. Absorptive capacity is a critical concept which is described as a firm's ability to absorb new knowledge for organizational innovation. We review the organizational knowledge cycle that can lead to innovation and growth among employees and the organization itself. Our proposed Social Media - Absorptive Capacity - Organizational Innovations framework examines the firm's stock of knowledge through top management allowing for innovative policies of social media usage within the organization, assimilation of social media within departments, and use of social media advertising for organizational benefit and learning. The research paper answers the following questions:

·         How can organizations utilize social media advertising to positively impact a firm's absorptive capacity leading to organizational growth, learning and innovation?

·         Will social media advertising play an important part in a firm's social media assimilation, and how can absorptive capacity help in higher education (HE) initiatives?

·         How can organizational growth and learning occur from social media driven absorptive capacity?

We provide case examples from education and technology sectors to investigate our proposed framework and offer recommendations to researchers, practitioners and policy makers regarding the usage of social media based absorptive capacity for organizational growth, learning and innovation.

 

CHAPTER 4

 

International Determinants of Cultural Consumption and Trade from a Subjective Well-Being Perspective

 

Claire R. Owen, PhD, Lecturer EDHEC Business School

 

An econometric study of international cultural consumption focuses on determinants of international trade in cultural goods and services for OECD countries between 1992 and 2004, along with possible links to measures of subjective well-being.  Behavioral demand factors, including experience, education and subjective well-being, are compared to supply-side determinants, as forces driving cultural consumption and trade.  In addition, higher cultural consumption propensities are shown to be positively related to national indicators of well-being.  Nonetheless, the regression analysis also suggests that increased exports is a way for countries spreading the fixed costs of investments in cultural production, while, at the same time, a large domestic market can contribute to a more internationally competitive cultural supply of cultural goods.  Thus, once other determinants of international cultural consumption are controlled for, global market performance enables certain countries to offset some of the effects of Baumol's cost disease. 

 

 

CHAPTER 5

 

Psychology Tactics in Online Marketing

Megan Neri and Jennifer Edmonds, Wilkes University

 

The pure popularity of ecommerce and how brands can leverage online platforms with focused marketing tactics is astonishing. Companies of all sizes have the ability to utilize these networks to sell their product or service. The research is intended to illustrate the influence of psychology in online marketing strategies. Specifically, this paper will discuss how the utilization of fear, joy, sadness, and anger can impact company performance. The goal of the research is to develop a framework to describe emotional strategies in online, social, and affiliate marketing.

 

 

CHAPTER 6

 

The Soft Power of The Music Industry - Where Does It Start And Where Does It End?

Insights from the United States and Japan

 

Mathilde Cervera MSc - ISC Paris Business School

 

Last century's Cold War had deep political and economic impacts on societies and specifically on the global music industry.  Throughout 1945 to 1990, the supremacy of the United States became increasingly challenged by countries all over the world which fought to balance their own soft power by asserting their native tastes and maintaining local demand.  With our growing global connectivity through the advancement of technology, the necessity of developing countries to assert their cultural identity has become profound.  This paper explores how Japan, was able to preserve its native music culture amidst the presence of U.S. and western influences on local demand through the "soft power" concept. Our study demonstrates that soft power efforts of one state find an end when soft power interests of another country raise, resulting in serious impacts on the specific soft power related industry.

 

Keywords:

Soft power, music industry, globalization, culture, J-pop, USA, Japan

 

CHAPTER 7

 

Music as a Source of Inspiration for Future Managers - A Learning-By-Doing Teaching Experiment

 

Pascale Debuire - Lecturer ISC Paris Business School

 

A learning-by-doing experiment was conducted in a French business school to teach students about what Management is  ...by playing Music! A group of twenty-five Bachelor's degree students, enrolled in a Management class, were invited to participate in a training session run by musicians at the famous Philharmonie de Paris. In this workshop, a group of students were given the opportunity to learn to play several instruments and compose a harmonious music together; while another group worked on writing a song together.  At the end of the session, both groups were joined and sang the song with its composed music. Through this rhythm and sound experiment, students learned to make unusual links between Music and Management. They grasped team-management concepts such as: setting up objectives and tasks, team cohesion and synergy-related concepts, the power of effective communication skills, and how to manage conflicts.

 

CHAPTER 8

 

Giving up on Family Values or Adapting to the Changing World - The Case of Barilla

 

Fabian Bernhard (PhD) - Associate Professor of Family Business, EDHEC Business School

 

Family businesses are often deeply rooted in their traditions. While these offer stability in times of crisis, they also can present obstacles when innovation and adaption becomes necessary. This chapter asks how family businesses handle the challenges between sustaining their traditional values in a changing environment. It therefore illustrates the case of Barilla, an Italian pasta producer that faced two major challenges that required radical adoptions to a changing world. The first challenge revolves around Barilla's 2013 LGBT scandal that started after the gay community questioned the company's policy to exclude homosexual families in their TV commercials. This was just a marketing issue until Guido Barilla declared that Barilla will not change its commercials because his family's values were against this new type of family and he would never change his point of view because it would contradict his traditions. This public declaration caused riot all around the world making LGBT activists to promote a boycott of the brand. Eventually the business faced a permanent loss of homosexual customers who did not want to buy a product from a homophobic company. The effects of Guido's declarations were so radical that Barilla decided to apologize. Since that day Barilla has done various attempts to recover the LGBT community's trust by different gestures that demonstrate they are not a homophobic company. However, they still decided against new forms of families to be presented in their TV commercials after the scandal which raises some questions. Has the Barilla family really learned from its scandal? Have they opened their mindsets about the concept of families or did they just apologize for business purposes? And how can traditional values that oftentimes build the foundation of family businesses adapted to changing situations without giving up the family's identity? The second challenge revolves around Barilla's next management succession, which presents an opportunity for far-reaching changes, but will require planning in a not so distant future. Barilla has outcome problems with succession three times in its history. This chapter will outline past and current succession challenges and their relation to fundamental change and innovation. However, the past ease in passing on the baton may not be the case for the succession into the fifth generation of Barilla. As will be analyzed the Barilla family has four descendants from the third generation (Guido, Luca, Paolo and Emmanuela) that has taken command of the ownership of the company, each brother has a different function on the board but not equal power in it. As a four generation company Barilla represents a lot for its members and it is most certain that their members would love to pass the torch to theirs offsprings. It will be analyzed how such succession processes can be used for rejuvenation, both in terms of leadership but also in renewal and adaption of leadership values, enabling future innovation.

 

CHAPTER 9

 

How does Social Media Advertising relate to CASMAR Social Commerce Framework in Higher Education? A Focus on Social Media Driven Student-Centered Learning

 

 

The research discusses the usage of social media in advertising with CASMAR, our theoretical framework for Social Commerce. In the research, we focus on how social media positively impacts advertising and how it relates to social commerce, as well as, increasing an organizational branding and exposure. We examine social media advertising through CASMAR social commerce framework, and how CASMAR affects consumers and businesses in branding and customer loyalty. In Higher Education (HE) sector, prior research has indicated that social media technologies and networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Docs has the potential to enhance primary and secondary learning. We review the importance of Word-of-Mouth (WOM), and the effects of personalized interactive advertising and its usage intensity on consumers and organizations, with a distinct focus on higher education. Furthermore, we investigate how social media sites are being used for e-commerce platforms and how they are integrated into educational (learning) needs of individual consumers and organizations. The research addresses the following questions.

     How does social media advertising relate to CASMAR social commerce framework?

     How does social media affect social commerce and WOM related interactive advertising for higher learning needs?

     How are social networking sites (SNSs) being used as e-commerce platforms that can be integrated into Higher Education (HE) teaching practices to emphasize student centered pedagogy and learning?

Finally, we offer recommendations to researchers, practitioners and policy makers regarding the usage of social media and social commerce driven CASMAR framework for organizational growth, learning and innovation.

 

Key words: Social Media, Social Commerce, CASMAR, Personalized Interactive Advertising, Higher Education, Student-Centered Learning

 

CHAPTER 10

 

Terrorism vs. Tourism: How Terrorism Affects Tourism Industries

 

Allison Naumann and Jennifer Edmonds, Wilkes University

 

The 21^st century has seen incredible growth in terrorism and related events that impact the tourism industry. This research examines implications for the tourism industry, in an effort to determine the relationship between terrorism-related events and tourism. Specifically, events in the airline, hotel, and consumer's choice industries are examined through both tourism and terrorism lenses - which provides a unique perspective. This analysis will focus on the response to these industries, including consumer reactions and opinions throughout the time period. The research then concludes with an analysis of the challenges and opportunities in these major tourism industries due to terrorism. The goal of the research is to address the question: is there a correlation between the events, the reactions and the opportunities?