EURAM Mini-Conference on Management Innovation

Speakers

Julian Birkinshaw

London Business School (LBS), University of London

Fariborz Damanpour

Rutgers Business School, Rutgers State University of New Jersey

Abstract

Purpose
As innovation is considered central to firms’ competitive advantage, innovation research has become a cornerstone of strategic management inquiry. However, the vast majority of research attention is dedicated to understanding how firms can stimulate technological innovation. An emerging (or rather resurrecting) research trend espouses the benefits of management innovation. Management innovation refers to the introduction of management practices, processes and structures that are intended to further organizational goals (Birkinshaw, Hamel and Mol, 2008). The emergent dialogue consists of conceptual work (e.g., Birkinshaw et al., 2008), historical outlines of various management innovations (e.g., Mol and Birkinshaw, 2007) and empirical studies (e.g., Damanpour, Walker and Avellaneda, 2009; Vaccaro, Jansen, Van Den Bosch, and Volberda, 2010).

Background
Despite the recent surge in academic interest, management innovation remains an under-researched topic. As recent work emphasizes the importance of management innovation for firm performance,both as a complement of technological innovation (Damanpour et al., 2009) and as an independent phenomenon (Mol and Birkinshaw, 2009), reaching a better understanding of the issues surrounding management innovation should be high on the research agenda. For example, Feigenbaum and Feigenbaum (2005: 96) argue that “the systematization of management innovations will be a critical success factor for 21st century companies”.

Research questions
The goal of this EURAM Mini-Conference and special issue is to stimulate academic enquiry by providing a platform to share ideas and state-of-the art research on management innovation. To this end, we invite paper submissions addressing, among others, the following topics:

Conceptual contributions: What is the level of analysis at which management innovation should
be considered? How to conceptualize management innovation as an outcome vs. management innovation as a process? How to describe and analyze management innovation as a process?
How to define and describe the degree of newness of management innovation?
Antecedents of management innovation: Who are the actors that drive management
innovation? What is the role of top/middle/line managers in management innovation? Is the
generation of management innovation a top-down or a bottom-up process? What is the role of
internal and external change agents? What are the organizational conditions that stimulate the
introduction of management innovations? How to develop conceptual frameworks focusing on
the dynamics of co-evolutionary interactions at both firm and industry level of management
innovation?
Consequences of management innovation: What are the implications of management innovation
for firm performance in different environmental conditions? How is management innovation
related to technological innovation over time and under different conditions? For what
outcomes other than financial performance may management innovation be important?
Methodological contributions: How to measure management innovation? What are appropriate
scales? How to obtain objective measures of management innovation?

Empirical, conceptual, and practitioner-oriented papers from a plurality of theoretical perspectives, units of analyses, contexts, and research designs are welcome, with particular encouragement for those integrating multiple theoretical lenses and/or methodological approaches. The focus is on high quality papers that potentially move the field of management innovation forward. Papers will be selected for publication in a special issue of European Management Review and a Themed Section in Organization Studies. Please send papers and address all correspondence to: Kevin Heij MScBA (kheij@rsm.nl ), Department of Strategic Management & Business Environment, RSM Erasmus University, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The EURAM Mini-Conference is sponsored by the Strategy Special Interest Group of EURAM and the top institute INSCOPE – Research for Innovation (www.inscope.nl).

Deadline for submission of papers: August 1, 2011

Notification to authors: September 15, 2011

Location: Rotterdam School of Management,
Erasmus University
M-Building
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA ROTTERDAM
The Netherlands
(located near city centre)

Preliminary programme:
Thursday evening (November 24): Dinner and key-note
Friday (November 25):

Key-note Julian Birkinshaw
Paper presentations
Lunch
Paper presentations
Key-note Fariborz Damanpour

Transfer:
By air: Arrival at Schiphol Airport Amsterdam: Direct train connection to Rotterdam Centre “Centraal Station” from the airport railway station, then take a taxi to the Erasmus University campus Woudestein (15 minutes).
Arrival at Rotterdam Airport (European flights only): Taxi to Erasmus University Rotterdam, Woudestein campus (approximately 20 minutes).
More information about travelling to the RSM Erasmus University can be found on the website:
http://www.rsm.nl/home/about/contact

Download call for papers