Reciprocal coproduction as a basis for the diffusion of global health innovations

Global health reciprocal innovations originate in low-income and middle-income countries as well as high-income countries before their developers communicate about them with potential adopters in other countries as a transnational team. While communication technology has enabled a more rapid and broader sharing of information about innovations to prevent disease and improve health, innovations of various types have spread among countries, at all levels of income, for many centuries. In this article, we introduce the idea of reciprocal coproduction as a basis for the international sharing of information about innovations that exhibit potential for improving global health. Reciprocal coproduction occurs through two relational team-based processes: developer-led reinvention of an innovation so that it retains its desirable causal effects and implementer-led adaptation of that innovation so that it is compatible with new contexts into which it is introduced. Drawing on research and our own experiences across a range of health issues, we discuss common barriers to reciprocal coproduction and the diffusion of reciprocal innovations. We conclude with lessons drawn from dissemination and implementation science about the effective translation of reciprocal innovations from country to country so that researchers, policy-makers and social entrepreneurs can best ensure equity, accelerate adoptions and heighten the likelihood that global health reciprocal innovations will make a positive difference in health.

Weiter so mit MTO? Konzeptionelle Entwicklungsbedarfe soziotechnischer Arbeits- und Systemgestaltung

Dieser konzeptionelle Beitrag nimmt auf Grundlage ausgewählter Publikationen zu soziotechnischer Arbeits- und Systemgestaltung (STS) den Stand der Diskussion auf und stellt aktuelle Suchprozesse und Lösungsansätze vor, mit denen soziotechnische Ansätze aktuelle Herausforderungen der Arbeits- bzw. Systemgestaltung in industriellen Kontexten bearbeiten. Darauf aufbauend werden Forschungs- und Entwicklungsdesiderate benannt sowie Ansatzpunkte aufgezeigt, um zu praktisch tragfähigen Gestaltungsmethoden und -lösungen zu kommen. Dafür werden Erfahrungen und erste Ergebnisse eigener praktischer Forschungsarbeiten genutzt.

Digital “x”—Charting a Path for Digital-Themed Research

We live in a time when digital technologies reshape most aspects of business and social life. This challenges received assumptions about modes of operation in organizations. As a result, scholars and practitioners increasingly use the label “digital” to signify that something has changed to the extent that a plethora of long-established management concepts are expressed in a new formulaic form of “digital x,” and x can stand for innovation, strategy, transformation, infrastructure, etc. In the information systems discipline and beyond, “digital” has emerged as an oft-used conceptual label to characterize age-long phenomena hitherto described by the IT (or x) label. There is a sense among academic and practitioner communities that digital and IT are not mere synonyms, but beyond the hype, something fundamentally different is being signaled when the “digital” label is invoked. This paper traces the intellectual roots and foundations of the growing use of “digital” as a conceptual label, identifies when the label use is warranted as well as outlines implications that the moniker holds for future scholarship, policy, and practice. In particular, the paper offers actionable guidance that enables more reflective use of the term “digital” as we move forward.

Responsible innovation in emerging markets’ SMEs: The role of alliance learning and absorptive capacity

This paper presents an examination of the role played by alliance learning in enabling emerging market small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop responsible innovation. SMEs based in emerging markets face significant challenges due to their weak resource base and the limited support they receive from formal institutions. In such a context, we argued that alliance learning takes a more prominent role in enabling these firms to develop responsible innovation via their absorptive capacity and sense-making competency. Drawn from 176 survey responses from SMEs originating from Pakistan, our findings shed light on the vital role played by alliance learning in enhancing SMEs’ responsible innovation. Specifically, the findings indicate that absorptive capacity acts as an important mechanism between alliance learning and responsible innovation. In addition, sense-making competency emerges as an important boundary condition and as a vital dynamic capability under which the effects of alliance learning on responsible innovation are stronger through the mediating mechanisms of absorptive capacity. These moderating-mediating findings contribute to the literature on dynamic capabilities and responsible innovation and provide important insights into the mechanisms and boundary conditions of responsible innovation in the context of emerging Asian markets.

From Lock-In to Transformation: A Path-Centric Theory of Emerging Technology and Organizing

We offer a path-centric theory of emerging technology and organizing that addresses a basic question. When does emerging technology lead to transformative change? A path-centric perspective on technology focuses on the patterns of actions afforded by technology in use. We identify performing and patterning as self-reinforcing mechanisms that shape patterns of action in the domain of emerging technology and organizing. We use a dynamic simulation to show that performing and patterning can lead to a wide range of trajectories, from lock-in to transformation, depending on how emerging technology in use influences the pattern of action. When emerging technologies afford new actions that can be flexibly recombined to generate new paths, decisive transformative effects are more likely. By themselves, new affordances are not likely to generate transformation. We illustrate this theory with examples from the practice of pharmaceutical drug discovery. The path-centric perspective offers a new way to think about generativity and the role of affordances in organizing.