Contenu du sommaire : Dynamics of innovation

The aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the firm through an explanation for its evolution, as part of the co-evolution of social and physical technologies. It is argued that since the emergence of the capitalist firm (factory) in the British Industrial Revolution this co-evolutionary process has brought about two major mutant-forms, namely the M-form which emerged from the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution and the decentralized-disintegrated organization (project-based form) born in the ICT revolution. This paper analyzes the rise of the succeeding mutant-forms in the co-evolutionary process framework and also highlights the nature of the differences between them. JEL Codes: D20, O30, P12

A basic hypthosesis of the paper is that non-financial transnational corporations can be defined as centers with industrial activities, or as “an organisational modality of finance capital”. The increase in financialisation affects the distribution and appropriation of value in the global value chain. The incredible rise in the value of their intangible assets, which adds a layer to financialisation, exerts deep impact on their innovative activities. JEL Codes: L22, L24, L14

Today a plethora of inter-company alliances exists. Firms have networked value chains, disclosing consequently their strategy, which assets are internalized or externalized, and their ability to cope with fast change. The picture of all interfirm alliances in high tech sectors is that of an unstable complex network, or macrostructure, that evolves quickly and into which firms are differently entwined. Structural metrics borrowed from network research in sociology such as centrality and constraint (or lack of “structural holes”) can be used to assess dynamically a firm's position in the macro structure and therefore the market: does the firm occupy a dominant or dominated position in an industry? How do its partners and competitors perform? Drawing also from recent theories on complex networks developed by statistical physicists, we show that firms are embedded in dynamic complex networks that have a ‘scale-free' format, with only a few firms or “hubs” controlling the system, as well as a cohesive or ‘small-world' structure. This small-world structure, which allows rapid diffusion of innovation along very short paths, also constrains firms continuously and can lead to a fast reversal of their position on the market. Taking as an example a major sector of the biopharmaceutical industry, this study offers insights for managers to assess effectively their environment and navigate under constant pressure within these ever-changing networks. JEL Codes: L14, L24, L65, O3

To win the competition challenges they are facing, Multinational Corporations are continuously aiming to shape new managerial practices. These companies can take advantage from exploiting the knowledge of their subsidiaries, especially by using hybridization. This article highlights the characteristics of hybridization as a new managerial practice and shows that the transfer of innovations, from Headquarters to subsidiaries, raises several issues in these multidimensional companies. A thorough study of OPERACOM, a multinational company operating in the telecommunications sector, provides answers to two major questions: What are the limits of the top-down transfer in Multinational Corporations? How could knowledge hybridization be considered as a new practice to develop innovation? To assess these questions, we will start by giving a clear overview of our conceptual framework. Then we will explain the outcomes of the empirical investigation within OPERACOM and finally, a cross analysis will be performed and analysed. JEL Codes: L22, L24, L14

This article aims to identify organizational characteristics of the current ICT start-ups. The interest is to understand how a business-type start-up, can propose an innovative work organization, since their emergence is the result of a visible changes (globalization, new technology, new financial business structures...). The methodology uses the Weber's idealtype to build a representation of work organization in start-ups. From a practical point of view, we opted for start-ups in ICT. Since the Internet bubble burst between 2000 and 2001, we have built and compared two idealtypes “pre-bubble” idealtype and a “post-bubble” idealtype – from the collection of primary and secondary data, so as to highlight the stable characteristics of work organization in start-up situations. Results show an innovative organization, with a mobile structure, where rules are organic, where culture is community, where the leadership style is transformational, where employees are “intrapreneurs” and are searching for learning and skills... This work organization has been observed in a particular sector, such as ICT. However, this ICT start-up idealtype is only a first point of support that suggests new research. JIE Codes: M13, L29

This work is an empirical illustration of the changing nature of governance structure in a small creative firm. The governance structure co-evolves with the division of knowledge and the division of labour. The paper is organised as follows: first we present the distinction between division of knowledge and division of labour in a knowledge-based framework and highlight some specificities of the knowledge worker. Then, in a second section, we present a case study of a creative SME in the sector of video games for mobile phones. This case study allows us to represent four different governance phases that we observed over a four-year time span. We then link these four governance phases with the evolution of the relation between the firm and different types of communities (communities of practice in which programmers from other firms participate, user communities ...). We show that the evolution of the governance structure has commonalities with the evolution of relations with the different communities and that those relations influence the division of knowledge and division of labour. JEL Codes: M13, L29, D80, B25, G34

On the basis of a case study of a leading user organisation in the market for industrial automation technology, I demonstrate how standard setting can be modelled by a knowledge-based approach which transforms collaborative R&D to seamless research & development & standard-setting (R&D&S) processes. “Standard-setting” within this analysis addresses specifications of technology, but also affects implementation and de-facto standardisation. The market for industrial automation technology is characterised by collaboration on standards, high technology influences from other industries, and network effects on standards. Furthermore, system integrators play a decisive role in value creation in the customer–specific business case. This case study emphasises the dynamics between knowledge stocks (knowledge alignment, narrowing and deepening) produced by collaborative standard setting and innovation; it sheds light on an evolutionary relationship between the exploration of assets & use cases and each firm's exploitation activities in the market. JEL Codes: L60, B52, O34, M21

The comeback of the State in the economy seems to define a significant inflexion in the trajectory of post-soviet Russia. This article specifies the extent and the characteristics of this re-engagement of the Russian State. It also proposes a twofold interpretation: the implementation of a developmentalist strategy and/or an instrumentalisation of public authorities in order to proceed to a redistribution of economic power within the ruling class. JEL Codes: H82, P26, O25