تزریق انعطاف پذیری به شرکت های b2b: تئوری اقتضایی و دیدگاه مبتنی بر منابع و کاربردهای عملی

Two questions motivate this research. What conditions foster flexibility and how might business-to-business firms infuse flexibility throughout their organizations? A synthesis of the strategic management, marketing, and new product development literature was undertaken, which provided an updated interdisciplinary focus. Contingency theory and the resource-based view perspective were utilized to enhance our knowledge and emphasize the importance of flexibility and organizational performance. Superior intra- and inter-firm flexibility are proposed to influence business-to-business marketplace success.

External interactive forces of rapid technological advances, increased globalization, market upheavals, and aggressive and risky competitive strategies have created unprecedented levels of uncertainty for organizations (Sanchez, 1997). Understanding the factors that shape how organizations respond to environmental uncertainty is of paramount importance since such actions ultimately affect their very survival. The resources endowed upon an organization and the capability to effectively exploit them determine the level of flexibility firms may exercise in uncertain environments. Managing uncertainty requires new structures (Ciborra, 1996), an arsenal of strategic options, and intra- and inter-firm resource coordination. Reliance on familiar environmental nuances such as technologies, production processes, and markets may render firms inflexible and place them in danger of extinction. A look at a firm's resource portfolio and how it is deployed, especially in the context of business-to-business marketing, is imperative because when strategically employed, effective resource allocation provides firms with enormous flexibility and can also represent a source of competitive advantage. Contingency theorists (Duncan, 1972, Miles & Snow, 1978 and Venkatraman, 1989) conclude that firm-to-firm strategy and structure variances are the result of environmental demands and, therefore, tend to be firm specific. This lack of generalizability precludes organizations from utilizing a universal strategy and/or structure to attend to the mix of emerging environmental fluctuations. In addition, the resourced-based theory suggest that both tangible and intangible resources and knowledge properly utilized contribute to firm competitive advantage when they are valuable, are rare, cannot be duplicated, and have no substitutes (Barney, 1991). Some firms are more endowed with resources than others, may leverage them more effectively, perform much better than other firms, and thereby achieve competitive advantage. Thus, variability in firm performance resides not only from firm-specific resources and structures, but also from how they are deployed to achieve organizational strategies and objectives. Moreover, firms equipped with a variety of strategic options are expected to garner enhanced firm performance even during dynamic times (Grewal & Tansuhaj, 2001 and Miles & Snow, 1978). Increases in effective communication, planning, and strategy formulation are additional expected benefits when firms work in tandem with an adaptive marketing mix (Miles & Snow, 1978). Some form of marketplace uncertainty is inevitable for most firms. Therefore, an enhanced understanding of the forces of its creation and requirements for firm sustenance are a must for all firms. We are interested in understanding how to achieve flexibility in a business-to-business setting as firms face unprecedented changes influenced by strong and adjusting supplier relationships, the use of the Internet to facilitate interaction between supply chain members, and increased use and reliance on production technologies to customize firm offerings (Kotha, 1995, Ozer, 2002 and Ozer, 2003). Even though products tend to be of a more complex nature than those found in business-to-consumer markets, buyer–seller relationships operate on a more personal level, and inter-firm relationships continue to expand and contract based on environmental demands (Mudambi, 2002). We also find a small but very important set of customers and potential customers exerting significant influence over firms (Bonner & Walker, 2004). As scholars have observed, managers of successful firms must balance mechanistic and organic elements (Brown & Eisenhardt, 1995 and Eisenhardt, 1989). So it is imperative that business-to-business firms coordinate and effectively deploy organizational resources and harness those between supply chain members, alliance partners, and cross-functional units. Also, effective supply chain management requires the coordination of internal firm functions and effective links with the external operations of suppliers and customers (Vickery, Calantone, & Dröge, 1999). Therefore, an enhanced understanding of the impact of flexibility on firm performance is required. Two questions motivate this research. First, what conditions foster flexibility and, second, how might business-to-business firms infuse flexibility throughout their organizations? To accomplish these objectives, a review of the rigidity/flexibility literature in the strategic management, marketing, and new product development disciplines was undertaken. This provided an updated interdisciplinary focus of the extant literature. Next, two theoretical perspectives were utilized to shed light on the importance of flexibility and organizational performance. Propositions were then developed, and methods for infusing flexibility throughout and within business-to-business firms were developed. A discussion and managerial implications facilitated the completion of these objectives and the accompanying paper.

The impact of unexpected changing markets, competitors, and technologies underscore the need for flexibility. Rigidity is most often appropriate in stable and benign environments where simple routines address relatively small marketplace changes. However, environmental dynamism and resulting uncertainty cause firms to sharply adjust strategies to cope with marketplace changes. Flexibility in resources and their coordination provide firms with the ability to address marketplace changes. Firms may infuse flexibility throughout their organizations by structuring and coordinating both intra- and inter-firm resources. Contingency scholars suggest the development of contingent strategies, structures, and resources that match environmental demands will result in enhanced firm performance since they are driven by firm-specific requirements. Since no single best resource mix exists from which firms may choose, then firms that are adept at aligning resources with environmental preferences are better suited to survive. The resource-based viewpoint supports this premise by noting that when resources (either structures, strategies, or tangible or intangible reserves) are rare, are valuable, and difficult-to-imitate and customer value is created, then firms experience superior marketplace success, which may lead to competitive advantage. Firms may achieve increased flexibility by structuring strong alliances to offset unanticipated environmental demands. Strategic alliances represent one avenue for achieving inter-firm flexibility. The synergies derived from these inter-organizational arrangements allow firms to better manage resources, address uncertainty, and provide customer value in ways that firms could not do alone. New product development alliances represent a specific type of alliance that provides firms with better innovations, rapid development, and lower risks. Firms enjoin resources and appropriately manage them in such a way so as to attain early market entry, external visibility and legitimacy, and increased marketplace success. Sensemaking, information sharing, cooperation, and coordination facilitate intra-firm flexibility. Sensemaking means that organizational members are aware of environmental demands, communicate matters of importance to others, and have developed appropriate strategies to address them. Information sharing ensures that customer and supplier-based information are disseminated to appropriate departments and used to achieve value for both. Cooperation promotes mutual intra-firm support in the areas of decision-making and implementation. When budgets, schedules, and tasks are harmoniously synchronized, intra-firm coordination is said to be achieved. Flexibility is also enhanced when marketing knowledge is utilized through processes that identify customers' latent and expressed needs and preferences, generate product concepts, commercialize successful products, and add enhancements to the value chain. New product development represents one area where there is a need to balance rigidity and flexibility, so there is a need to innovate and retain important capabilities. Familiar organizational processes and routines propel cross-functional team members from project inception to commercialization. However, within those routines, new products, processes, and technologies materialize that displace current practices. The trick is not to stifle creativity and innovation with bureaucracy and traditional routines. Business-to-business new product development is inherently complex, spans multiple intra- and inter-organizational linkages, and takes a longer time to complete than business-to-consumer projects. Firms are required to coordinate and reconfigure resources, organizational and strategic options, and thereby achieve the flexibility required to implement change.