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Exogenous radical technological changes often threaten firms' organizational identity. Many organizations, be it incumbent or new entrant, need to reinvent themselves in light of such technological changes, if they can. To contribute to research on organizational identity and firm responses to radical technological change, we adopt a multifaceted view of organizational identity and emphasize that who or what a firm is, is as important as what a firm does and why. Based on a qualitative, multi-case study on the responses of Dutch music companies to the emergence of digitalization, we explore how this identity-strategy nexus plays our during radical technological change. Based on our analysis, we identify three identity-strategy response mechanisms. In identity affirmation, firms prioritize their identity and incorporate radical technologies to fit their organizational identity. In identity hedging and identity accommodation firms prioritize strategy and suspend organizational identity in favour of strategic change, which over time reconfigures organizational identity. This provides an alternative explanation for the heterogeneity in firm responses to the same radical technological change. The differences across these three response mechanisms yield important insights for the growing study of the intersection of radical technological change and the OI literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entrepreneurial potential of digital technologies for new business startups and the engagement of stakeholders in the implementation of these technologies have garnered increasing interest from scholars and practitioners alike. However, there remains a notable gap in understanding the effects of digital technologies on the inception of new business startups and the dynamic conditions that unfold during their interactions with stakeholders in the business domain. To address this gap, we draw from the realms of digital technologies, entrepreneurship, and ecosystem literature to conceptualize a digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. This framework aims to (1) unravel the 'what' and 'how' factors contributing to the establishment of new business startups, specifically in the context of Agritech firms leveraging digital technologies within the agri-food sector in Ghana, and (2) identify the stakeholders involved in the implementation process of digital technologies. Employing an explorative research approach, our study analyzes 22 interviews from 15 Agritech firms in Ghana, complemented by observational and secondary data. Our findings reveal two key aspects: firstly, four distinct business formation processes guide the establishment of Agritech firms, encompassing (a) spin-off activities, (b) engagement in research projects, (c) capitalizing on agricultural business opportunities through digital technologies, and (d) responding to agritech challenges originating from innovation hubs. Secondly, three sets of stakeholders intricately contribute to the implementation process of digital technologies by Agritech firms, operating at the micro, meso, and macro levels. At the micro-level, stakeholders, comprising farmers and their offtakers, indirectly support Agritech firms through feedback and active involvement in the digital solution development process. Meso-level stakeholders, represented by a network of agritech firms, foster mutual support by sharing experiences and knowledge, thus fostering inter-firm synergies. At the macro level, stakeholders, including innovation hubs, government agencies, universities, and international development agencies, provide direct support through grants, business development training, office space, and linkages to investors. Through these findings, our study seeks to offer a nuanced understanding of the intricate interplay between new business startups and various stakeholders within the dynamic landscape of implementing digital technologies in the agri-food sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the contemporary digital landscape, the rapid surge of digital innovations is profoundly reshaping societies, firms, and economies, offering unprecedented opportunities for efficiency, transformation, and growth. However, this transformative journey is not devoid of challenges and complexities intrinsic to innovation. Existing studies on digital innovation tend to focus more on the prospects, exploring the feasibility of open innovation. Yet, there is a conspicuous gap in perceiving open innovation as a proactive response to challenges encountered in the adoption and implementation of digital technologies. Filling this research gap, our study draws from interviews and documents to analyze the emergence of open innovation strategies as a result of firms' responses to challenges when introducing their digital innovations to farmers in Ghana. Our results illustrate that firms' responses to challenges faced led them to proactively utilize a combination of both internal and external resources. Internal resources were drawn from firms' capabilities in software and Artificial Intelligence (AI) development. The pursuit of external resources led firms to engage in partnerships with external parties, taking various forms: (1) tactical partnering, (2) operational partnering, (3) partnering to acquire new human resources, (4) partnerships for obtaining new financial resources, and (5) partnering for acquiring new competencies. Partnering for new financial resources in particular was due to the complexity of Big Data analysis that triggered firms to seek external support. Finally, we discuss these findings for theoretical and managerial implications dealing with the complexities of digital innovation and seeking effective open innovation practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether digital technologies stemming from a digital merger target influence the associations between downsizing after M&A and market reactions. Grounded in signaling theory and drawing on a sample of 201 M&A deals that took place between 2001 and 2017, we find that downsizing after a merger with a digital target can have a positive effect on the market reaction. Specifically, we find a three-way interaction between the merger target being digital, time between merger and downsizing, and magnitude of downsizing which suggests that the positive relationship between downsizing after a merger with a digital target is the most positive when downsizing takes place after more than two years while being major in magnitude. Our core contribution is to the literature on M&A related downsizing, by providing new insights into the signals stemming from downsizing in the wake of a merger and how they interact and influence market reaction. In addition, we contribute to the literature on digital M&A, by connecting digital technologies to workforce downsizing after M&A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitioning towards more sustainable agri-food ecosystems amidst the current global environmental change requires a shift in perspective. A perspective wherein agri-food ecosystems enact business strategies incorporating ecological concerns to address emerging environmental challenges. To unravel this perspective, we systematically reviewed the literature with the intent to extract information about: 1) the environmental challenges faced by agri-food ecosystems; 2) the business strategies incorporating ecological sustainability which are established to address the above challenges; 3) the design of agri-food ecosystems involved in the above business strategies and described as a constellation of actors, practices they enact and technological means they adopt. Drawing on this integrated view of ecological sustainability work, we discussed the configuration of agri-food ecosystems for addressing the different emerging challenges, provide the theoretical and practical contributions of the study and introduce future research avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As firms are increasingly exposed to disruptive innovations that affect their operations, their ability to effectively respond to such disruptions is essential to both their competitiveness and long term success. This study contributes to existing disruptive innovation research by going beyond the mere identification of the effect of, and response to disruptive innovations to provide a better understanding of the disruptive innovation process. In addition, this study contributes to existing organization and strategy research by addressing a firm's strategic behavior during disruptive innovations in order to provide more insights into the adaptive behavior of firms in response to disruptive innovations. Using a case study approach, this study illustrates how firms respond to disruptive innovations over time and why these responses differ. The results illustrate "polar cases" -or seemingly similar cases that evaluate and respond to disruptive innovations differently-, and "polar strategies" -or seemingly different strategies that both enable firms to cope with disruptive innovations effectively. This study further explicates the interplay of awareness and motivation in constructing these "polar" organizational responses to disruptive innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of alliances, and R&D alliances in particular, focus mostly on issues at the meso and macro levels of analysis. It may be for this reason that it remains unclear what explains their success (or rather, their failure). Despite calls, few studies have been able to study the micro dynamics inside an alliance (Zollo et al. 2002). The inner-working of alliances is still unclear. Drawing on social capital and social network theory, we study how individuals in an R&D alliance transfer knowledge. We find that individuals perform better in an alliance when they are well-connected in the formally mandated network, but, counter- intuitively, worse when they are actively seeking and giving advice to (from) others in the extra-role, emergent advice network. Each of these effects is strengthened by the tie strength of relations maintained in each network. We discuss the theoretical implications for social network theory, for the innovation management literature and the literature on alliances. We also discuss managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While unavoidable at times, corporate reorganization by downsizing is widely believed to hurt a firm's innovativeness. This paper studies the changes, over time, in the innovation network at a large, multinational in the financial services industry as it endured downsizing. While reducing the absolute size of the innovation community substantially, we find, downsizing does not disrupt the overall structure of the innovation network. We find that involvement with innovation can be remarkably resilient despite the considerable slimming down of the labor force in some parts of the firm. We argue and show that this resilience stems from the position of employees in the flow of information in the formal as well as the informal network prior to downsizing. Investigating the network characteristics of the survivors of downsizing, at the individual level, we find that the information flow from one's extended network relations, prior to downsizing, is more important than the information from one's direct ties, in each of these two networks, to sustain one's innovation ties. Hierarchical position stimulates innovation tie resilience, particularly in the informal network. Resilience of innovation activity in a firm will allow the firm to resume an innovative course after the immediate effects of downsizing have subsided. Our findings thus have important managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While unavoidable at times, corporate reorganization by downsizing is widely believed to hurt a firm’s innovativeness. This paper studies the changes, over time, in the innovation network at a large, multinational in the financial services industry as it endured downsizing. While reducing the absolute size of the innovation community substantially, we find, downsizing does not disrupt the overall structure of the innovation network. We find that involvement with innovation can be remarkably resilient despite the considerable slimming down of the labor force in some parts of the firm. We argue and show that this resilience stems from the position of employees in the flow of information in the formal as well as the informal network prior to downsizing. Investigating the network characteristics of the survivors of downsizing, at the individual level, we find that the information flow from one’s extended network relations, prior to downsizing, is more important than the information from one’s direct ties, in each of these two networks, to sustain one’s innovation ties. Hierarchical position stimulates innovation tie resilience, particularly in the informal network. Resilience of innovation activity in a firm will allow the firm to resume an innovative course after the immediate effects of downsizing have subsided. Our findings thus have important managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]