MIT Sloan Management Review and PricewaterhouseCoopers are once again pleased to honor those articles that have contributed most significantly to the enhancement of management practice. Choosing from among the articles published in SMR in 2004, an independent panel of judges concluded that the following three most completely met the standard for the award by illuminating the interplay between best theory and best practice in useful, applicable and insightful ways. In particular, the judges felt that each of the winning articles addressed the most crucial challenges for today’s managers in their quest for competitive advantage — collaboration, alignment, adaptability and innovation — and offered pragmatic solutions supported by high-quality research, helpful frameworks and illustrative examples.
For years, multinational corporations could compete successfully by exploiting scale-and-scope economies or by taking advantage of imperfections in the world’s goods, labor and capital markets. They traditionally realized these economies by utilizing physical assets, such as distribution systems, and exploiting a brand. However, this article’s authors contend that in a world characterized by almost universal access to resources, the new economies of scope are based on the ability of business units, subsidiaries and functional departments within a company to collaborate successfully. Collaboration can be a source of competitive advantage because it does not occur automatically and, indeed, there are several barriers that impede collaboration within complex multiunit organizations. In order to overcome those barriers, companies will have to develop distinct organizing capabilities that cannot be easily imitated. Toward that end, the authors offer a framework that links barriers to interunit collaboration to managerial action and value creation and conceptualizes collaboration as a set of management levers. "This article has the highest degree of fresh new perspective and usefulness to managers," said one judge. In addition, "it addresses the most pressing issue of the day for both business and government: building collaborative environments within organizations to build a more robust and dynamic capability."
Morten T. Hansen is an associate professor of entrepreneurship at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. Nitin Nohria is Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School in Boston.
This article appeared in the Fall 2004 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review. (Reprint 46105)
For long-term success, a company needs to be both adaptable and aligned, an attribute sometimes referred to as ambidexterity. The standard approach is to create separate structures for different types of activities, but separation also can lead to isolation, and many R&D and business development groups have failed because of their lack of linkage to the core businesses. In an attempt to shed new light on this phenomenon, the article develops and explores the concept of contextual ambidexterity, which calls for individual employees to make active choices between alignment-oriented and adaptation-oriented activities in the context of their day-to-day work. "Building ambidexterity is the most critical challenge we have in all aspects of management," remarked one judge. The article presents "a compelling case to support the empirical study," said another. "The gold nugget in the article is the reference to creation of ‘a high-performance context in which ambidextrous behavior on the individual level would be encouraged and rewarded.' "
Julian Birkinshaw is an associate professor of strategic and international management at London Business School and a fellow of the Advanced Institute of Management Research. Cristina Gibson is an assistant professor of organization and strategy at the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine.
This article appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review. (Reprint 45408)
It’s true that many companies have research centers or product-development teams scattered around the world, but more often that not, each of those units is focused on leveraging the knowledge available at its doorstep. Some companies, however, have managed to assemble an integrated "innovation chain" that is truly global, allowing them to outflank competitors that innovate using knowledge in a single cluster. These "metanational innovators," as the authors dub them, implement a process for innovating that transcends local clusters and national boundaries and provides more, higher-value innovation at lower cost -- a powerful competitive advantage. Metanational innovation is the logical next step beyond augmenting in-house R&D with external ideas in what has been called the era of open innovation. "This is an issue almost all midsize to large organizations need to address," remarked one judge. "An excellent article," said another. "It will be of significant value to managers. The authors present a very solid model of how to control costs while mobilizing the talent pool and innovation processes." José Santos is adjunct professor of international management, Yves Doz is the Timken Chaired Professor of Global Technology and Innovation, and Peter J. Williamson is an affiliate professor of Asian business and international management at INSEAD.
This article appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of MIT Sloan Management Review. (Reprint 45406)
The Panel of Judges
Kirk M. Klasson Vice President, Strategy Novell Inc.
Jim O’Brien Director of Operations BIC Consumer Products
Constance M. O’Hare Partner Beacon Advisors LLC
Richard A. Russell Director, Information Sharing and Collaboration U.S. Department of Homeland Security
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