8/3/2019 CINet Track Paradox 2012

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13th International CINet Conference

Continuous Innovation

Across Boundaries

Rome, Italy | 16-18 September 2012

www.continuous-innovation.net

Special Track

Tensions and Paradoxes inContinuous Innovation Management:The Role of ICT and HR

Track Chairs

Mariano Corso | Polytechnic of Milan | Mariano.Corso@polimi.it Antonella Martini | University of Pisa | A.Martini@ing.unipi.it

Organizers

Mariano Corso | Polytechnic of Milan | Mariano.Corso@polimi.it Luca Gastaldi | Polytechnic of Milan | Luca.Gastaldi@polimi.itAntonella Martini | University of Pisa | A.Martini@ing.unipi.it

Description

The growth of competitive pressure over markets forces organisations to be excellent not only in the ac-complishment of the needs of todays customers but also in the anticipation of tomorrows requests(Corso et al., 2009). Moreover, evidence (Eisenhardt et al., 2010) indicates that many firms inhabit in-creasingly dynamic environments, where destabilising forcessuch as technical innovation, globalisedcompetition, and entrepreneurial actionoperate with amplified frequency (Schreyog and Sydow, 2010).As a result, organisations in all industries have to continuously reconfigure their structures and process-es, sustain stability through replication and optimisation, ensure steady performances, and, at the sametime, generate innovations in order to meet or create future demands (Levinthal and March, 1993; Floysand Lane, 2000).

With these premises as a starting point, Boer (2001) defines Continuous Innovation (CI) as the ongoinginteraction between operations, incremental improvement, learning and radical innovation aimed at ef-fectively combining operational effectiveness and strategic flexibility, exploitation and exploration. Allthese gestalts of organisational performance represent overarching demands, spurring nested tensionsthroughout the organisation (Andriopoulos and Lewis, 2009). If both practitioners and academics havehistorically managed these tensions following a trade-off approach, recently, an increasing focus is put

on the adoption ofboth/and approachestrying to deal with opposite tensions simultaneously (Lewis,2000). In order to cope with this new perspective it is necessary to:

Embrace a paradoxical thinking (Lewis, 2000; Magnusson and Martini, 2008; Andriopoulos andLewis, 2009; Smith and Lewis, 2011)

Adopt a comprehensive perspective in analysing a CI propensity of an organisation (Gibsonand Birkinshaw, 2004; Smith and Tushman, 2005; Gilbert, 2006; Corso and Gastaldi, 2010).

The track welcomes papers (work in progress or finished researchboth empirical as well as theoreticalworks) exploring innovative levers to capture the enlightening potential of the paradoxes among thedifferent tensions related to CI management, in order to find a means of meeting the competing de-mands simultaneously. Among the others levers, a special interest is given to Information and Commu-nication Technologies (ICTs) and Human Resources (HRs).

We therefore welcome papers investigating the following aspects (the list is not exhaustive):

Organisational and managerial antecedents of CI tensions and paradoxes CI tensions and paradoxes in product and service industries CI tensions and paradoxes in Public Administrations Methodologies to study tensions and paradoxes in CI management Paradoxical management of CI and organisational performance Tensions and paradoxes in CI management within and across boundaries Approaches to ambidextrously balance contradictory tensions in CI management Role of social software in managing tensions and paradoxes

8/3/2019 CINet Track Paradox 2012

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www.continuous-innovation.net

Potential Journal Publication

All the papers submitted for the conference track will undergo a double blind review process.The best papers presented at the track will be invited for a special issue in an International Journal.

References

Andriopoulos C., Lewis M.W. (2009) Exploration-Exploitation Tensions and Organizational Ambidexterity: Managing Par-adoxes of Innovation, Organization Science, 20(4): 696717.

Boer, H. (2001) And Jethro ] said Oas Learning: the link between strategy, innovation and Production, Center for In-dustrial Production, Aalborg University, 4 May.

Corso M., Gastaldi L. (2010) A Collaborative Research Methodology to Study Continuous Innovation Driven by ICT in theHealth Care Industry, 11th International CINet Conference, Zrich (CH), 57 September: 290308.

Corso M., Martini A., Pellegrini L. (2009) Innovation at the Intersection Between Exploration, Exploitation and Disconti-nuity, International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 6(4): 324340.

Floys S.W., Lane P.J. (2000) Strategizing Throughout the Organization: Managing Role Conflict in Strategic Renewal,Academy of Management Review, 25(1): 154177.

Eisenhardt K.M., Furr N.R., Bingham C.B. (2010) Micro-foundations of Performance: Balancing Efficiency and Flexibilityin Dynamic Environments, Organization Science, 21(6): 12631273.

Levinthal D.A., March J.G. (1993) The Myopia of Learning, Strategic Management J., 14(1): 95112.Lewis M.W. (2000) Exploring Paradox: Toward a More Comprehensive Guide, Academy of Management Review, 25(4):

760776.Magnusson M, Martini A. (2008) Dual Organisational Capabilities: From Theory to PracticeThe Next Challenge for Con-

tinuous Innovation, Int. J. of Technology Management, 42(1/2): 119.Schreyogg G., Sydow J. (2010) Organizing for Fluidity? Dilemmas of New Organizational Forms, Organizational Science,

21(6): 12511262.Smith W.K., Lewis M.W. (2011) Toward a Theory of Paradox: A Dynamic Equilibrium Model of Organizing,Academy of

Management Review, 36(2): 381403.

Keywords

Continuous Innovation Paradox and Tensions Information and Communication Technologies Human Resource Management

Guidelines

Researchers wishing to contribute are invited to submit an extended abstract (in Word format) of1000-1500 words by March 15, 2012. The abstract should address theoretical background, research objective,

methodology, and results in terms of expected contribution to CI theory and practice. Authors are en-couraged to follow the guidelines for both extended abstracts as well as full papers.

Deadlines

Abstract submission: 15 March 2012 Review decisions sent to authors: 27 April 2012 Full paper submission: 1 June 2012 Feedback to authors: 22 June 2012 Final full paper submission: 1 July 2012 Registration to the conference (for at least one author of the paper): 1 July 2012

Further Information

For further information, please contact: Luca.Gastaldi@polimi.it

http://cl.ly/2f2Q3U0o11081c3G3B2mhttp://cl.ly/0i0J3c0X44382i2A2S15