LEE- Endüstri Ürünleri Tasarımı Lisansüstü Programı - Doktora

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http://hdl.handle.net/11527/19710

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Yazar "Er, Özlem" ile LEE- Endüstri Ürünleri Tasarımı Lisansüstü Programı - Doktora'a göz atma
  • Öge
    Innovation management in design-intensive family firms from office furniture manufacturing industry: A dynamic capability perspective from an emerging market
    (Graduate School, 2022-12-02) Gülden, Selin ; Er, Özlem ; 502122905 ; Industrial Design
    This study aims to explore four aspects: the strategies of design-intensive family firms to manage innovation, the effect of familiness – unique resources and capabilities of a firm resulting from family involvement – on this process, how these strategies change in the business environment of an emerging market through a dynamic capability perspective, and, finally, how design acts as an innovation driver and contributes to the development of these dynamic innovation capabilities. Notably, it contributes to the growing research on innovation in family firms by studying the effect familiness in a business organization on managing innovation, a design-intensive organization's efforts to discover and manage new product and/or service opportunities and to make improvements to existing processes and systems through a dynamic innovation capability (DIC) perspective. DIC refers to the analysis of firm's processes of using resources to adapt to market change, capacity to sense/shape and seize opportunities, and to orchestrate resource manipulation by reconfiguring/transforming. Research on innovation in family firms shows the unique approaches considering their innovation activities and have controversial findings that are needed to be theoretically and empirically explored. This study therefore proposes an extended and detailed further research to the following: the attributes and structure of the decision-making and evaluation process of family managers, strategic behaviors of the family firms such as internationalization, new product development, mergers and acquisitions, and also innovation decision behaviors and heterogeneity among family firms with qualitative methods. In addition, , there is little research in emerging markets on innovation in family firms, and the applicability of those contributions from a developed to an emerging market with unstable and heterogeneous behavior is widely discussed in the literature, thus the studies in emerging markets have considerable significance. In addition, there is a significant gap in the literature to understand how family firms' capabilities are shaped by constantly changing environment, and how they survive in this competitive market, thus dynamic capability approach is a suitable theoretical perspective that significantly contributes to their adaptation to dynamic business environments. Moreover, design-intensive firms, which rely on creativity and innovative contributions for managing design, are important for gaining competitive advantage in dynamic environments, and therefore it is crucial to study in detail their founding/controlling family members' role and involvement in innovation with the interest in preserving family name and identity across generations. Nevertheless, those unique features and complex behavior of design-intensive family firms can only be apprehended by a qualitative approach, which is generally disused in the literature. The objectives of this study comprise contribution to theory and practice in the fields of family business, innovation, and design, and therefore are aligned with exploratory approach. This qualitative research has two main phases: (1) the first phase, a comprehensive review of literature, four expert interviews, and a pilot study, and (2) the second phase, a multiple-case study. The first phase aims to uncover the themes and theories, embody a base, focus the research purpose and strategy, generate ideas and framework, and determine the practicability of research design. In this phase, first, the literature review builds a theory-based conceptual framework, and then expert interviews bring insights on family business and innovation in the selected context, and finally, a pilot case is investigated in detail for further refinement of the research design. Since the nature of this study requires a multi- and cross-disciplinary approach to review the literature, the basis of this research is established by the overview on (1) family business research and familiness, (2) research perspectives on family business innovation, and (3) dynamic capability perspective. The four experts in this study are sampled through the criteria of either (1) being a member of firms, (2) having experience working in/with firms, (3) having experience, or (4) representing other areas (e.g., supplier) in the selected industry. The expert interviews facilitate understanding of the significance of the research purpose, uncovering of the contextual themes, and the discovery of the unseen and less mentioned themes in the case interviews. The pilot case study with one of the sampled firms leads this study towards a deeper exploration of family involvement (familiness) through a more systematic theoretical perspective (dynamic capability view). The second phase aims to explore the under-researched phenomena of design-intensive family firms from office furniture manufacturing industry in an emerging market, Turkey and their dynamic innovation capabilities through a multiple-case study. The primary data is retrieved from in-depth semi-structured interviews with three sampled firms. The selection criteria were (1) being owned and governed by a family for at least two generations, (2) operating in an emerging market, (3) operating in a specific-industry context for design and innovation, (4) having design/innovation activities and strong financial performance at both national and international level, and (5) availability for open access. Eight interviews were conducted with three firms – four at Case A, two at Case B, and two at Case C, using a guide in line with the research questions of this study, and the interviewees include both family and non-family members of these firms. The interview protocol has four parts including questions (1) aimed at tracking the historical evolution of the company, (2) focusing on the extent of family involvement in the company's decision-making processes, and the contribution of familiness, (3) aimed at identifying the relationship between how dynamic capabilities are created/changed and how innovations are managed, and (4) focusing on the role of design in the creation of dynamic innovation capabilities. The secondary data was collected through document analysis of the sampled cases including firm websites, archival files, projects reports, corporate presentations, and videos. The overall data analysis technique adopted includes a within-case analysis for the first phase, to explore the unique and emergent patterns of each case, and cross-case analysis for the second phase, to compare the common themes. The analysis of DIC and familiness was performed through the coding elements based on prior literature and obtained qualitative data of each case and was facilitated by MAXQDA 2020, a qualitative data analysis software program. In within-case analysis, case narratives are prepared by breaking the text into several parts, according to the initial conceptual framework (three dimensions of familiness and three forms of dynamic innovation capability). These sections include profiles of cases, the narratives of each case, focusing on the company background, analysis of familiness dimensions (involvement, essence, organizational identity), analysis of dynamic innovation capabilities (sensing, seizing, reconfiguring) gained through changes in the business environment in the emerging context, and discussion on the influence and role of familiness in each form of DIC - namely sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring. In cross-case analysis, the discussion is displayed through a systematic approach, which acknowledges the patterns between cases (Case A to C) and categories (familiness and dynamic innovation capabilities), and discusses these in relation to the research questions and prior knowledge in the literature. This study explores the strategies of design-intensive FFs to manage innovation. These strategies and their decision-making processes are analyzed through the development of DICs and how they are affected by familiness. Firstly, the findings from the case study FFs reveal thirteen recurring behaviors. These recurring behaviors are categorized into three types of strategy. The first type are three strategies for sensing opportunities: (1) visiting fairs for design feedback and idea exchange, (2) monitoring trends and international markets, and analyzing changes in industry, (3) managing ideas with support of internal and external stakeholders. In the second type, there are six strategies for seizing opportunities: (1) strengthening production know-how through experience and technological investment, (2) establishing design and R&D center for external support, (3) adopting organic structure for product development, (4) adapting automated system for operation, (5) building corporate brand awareness at international level, (6) creating social responsibility projects that fit with firm identity. In the final type, there are four strategies for reconfiguring assets and structures: (1) adding new service for e-commerce sales, (2) adapting know-how for fully customized product mechanisms, (3) planning for institutional structure, (4) changing business model for innovation. In the second section of the study, the role of design on FFs' DICs is explored and its contribution to this development process. The findings from the case study FFs reveal three roles of design that contribute to these capabilities. These are (1) idea generation through external resources; (2) value addition through high-quality products; (3) vision accumulation through the founder. These findings highlight the interaction between design and innovation practices of FFs and provide insights on how a manufacturing company could achieve innovation. Firstly, for sensing opportunities, the collaborative approach to idea generation through external sources is used. Secondly, for seizing opportunities, the value addition is achieved with high-quality products often through investment in production technologies and process innovations. Finally, for reconfiguring assets and structures, the vision for innovation is adopted through the founder. Consequently, the strategies revealed as recurring behaviors provide insights for manufacturers, family managers, and design professionals; and propose a guideline for newly established manufacturing firms in a design-intensive industry, or for first-generation FFs, from an emerging market. The following are critical for innovation: (1) for sensing opportunities, being open and critical to the external environment and new ideas, (2) for seizing opportunities, having production know-how, controlled operation, organic product development, corporate identity, and social awareness, and (3) for reconfiguring assets, and structures, being adaptive to technology, willing to change, and continuous learners of new ideas.