Turnkey or Tailored? Relational Pluralism, Institutional Complexity, and the Organizational Adoption of More or Less Customized Practices

Ryan  Raffaelli; Mary Ann  Glynn

Article | Academy of Management Journal

Turnkey or Tailored? Relational Pluralism, Institutional Complexity, and the Organizational Adoption of More or Less Customized Practices

by Ryan Raffaelli and Mary Ann Glynn

Abstract

We examine how the organizational adoption of new practices is influenced by relational pluralism, i.e., an organization's multiple ties to actors inside and outside its industry. We theorize that institutional mechanisms of practice diffusion underlying relational networks, and filtered by organizational characteristics, influence the adoption of practices that are more customized (tailored) or less customized (turnkey). We hypothesize first, that organizations participating in extra-industry professional networks will, through normative conformity, be more likely to adopt turnkey practices; second, that the normative pressure of professional networks will interact with the mimeticism of industry peers such that organizations will be more likely to adopt tailored practices; and third, organizational filters will affect adoption of all practices. Using unique survey data from 161 F500 organizations, supplemented by archival and qualitative data, we focus on two Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice variants. We find significant support for our first two hypotheses and mixed support for our third: organizational infrastructure and identity significantly affect practice adoption, albeit in different ways, but only marginal support for leadership and elite organizational status. Our results point to how a complex web of relational ties affects the organizational adoption of practice variants that differ in their degree of customization.

Keywords: Networks; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Processes; Adoption; Customization and Personalization;

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Raffaelli, Ryan, and Mary Ann Glynn. "Turnkey or Tailored? Relational Pluralism, Institutional Complexity, and the Organizational Adoption of More or Less Customized Practices." Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 2 (April 2014): 541–562.

Article | Administrative Science Quarterly | September 2019

Technology Reemergence: Creating New Value for Old Technologies in Swiss Mechanical Watchmaking, 1970-2008

Ryan Raffaelli

In 1983, 14 years after the introduction of the battery-powered quartz watch, mechanical watches and the Swiss watchmakers who built them were predicted to be obsolete (Landes, 1983). Unexpectedly, however, by 2008 the Swiss mechanical watchmaking industry had rematerialized to become the world’s leading exporter (in monetary value) of watches. This study reveals the process and mechanisms associated with technology reemergence, i.e., the resurgence of substantive and sustained demand for an old (legacy) technology following the introduction of a new dominant design. Drawing on the case of mechanical watchmaking, it reveals how technology reemergence is a decidedly cognitive process, unfolding in two phases: a first phase marked by a redefinition of the meanings and values associated with the legacy technology and facilitated by mechanisms of value recombining, temporal distancing, identity marking, and conceptual bridging and a second phase marked by a redefinition of market boundaries and facilitated by mechanisms of competitive set reclaiming and enthusiast consumer mobilizing. For mechanical watchmakers, the process culminated in competitive and consumer differentiation that ushered in innovation reinvestment and a period of substantive and sustained demand growth for mechanical watches. This paper contributes to research on technology cycles, cognition, and incumbent responses to discontinuous change.

Keywords: technology reemergence; technology cycles; cognition and market redefinition; legacy technology trajectories; Technology; Demand and Consumers; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Identity; Change; Consumer Products Industry; Switzerland;

Citation:

Raffaelli, Ryan. "Technology Reemergence: Creating New Value for Old Technologies in Swiss Mechanical Watchmaking, 1970-2008." Administrative Science Quarterly 64, no. 3 (September 2019): 576–618. View Details

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Why do incumbent firms frequently reject nonincremental innovations? Beyond technical, structural, or economic factors, we propose an additional factor: the degree of the top management team's (TMT) frame flexibility, i.e., their capability to cognitively expand an innovation's categorical boundaries and to cast the innovation as emotionally resonant with the organization's identity, competencies, and competitive boundaries. We argue that inertial forces generally constrict how TMTs perceive innovations but that frame flexibility can overcome these constraints, increasing the likelihood of adoption and broadening the organization's innovation practices. We advance a theoretical model that relaxes the assumption that cognitive frames are static, showing how they become flexible via categorical positioning, and introduce a role for emotional frames that appeals to organizational members' sentiments and aspirations in innovation adoption.

Describes the founding and growth challenges facing Moleskine, an Italian-based consumer products company known for its oilcloth-covered notebooks once used by Ernest Hemingway and Vincent van Gogh. CEO Arrigo Berni and co-founder Maria Sebregondi aim to transform the company from a founder-led company to a professionally managed firm by expanding into new geographies, product categories, and distribution channels. They have also recently developed several strategic partnerships with Silicon Valley firms to expand into an array of digital products. However, after going public, stock prices continue to fluctuate below analysts' expectations, raising concerns about whether the company has grown too quickly. The leaders must now decide how to expand the firm's capabilities while continuing to preserve its organizational identity and creative culture.

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Turnkey or Tailored? Relational Pluralism, Institutional Complexity, and the Organizational Adoption of More or Less Customized Practices

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