On the verge of disruption: Rethinking position and role – The case of additive manufacturing

PublicationArticle (with peer review)

3D printing, Additive manufacturing, Christina Öberg, Disruption, Position, Role, Strategy, Tawfiq Shams

Abstract

Purpose: With the overarching idea of disruptive technology and its effects on business, this paper focuses on how companies strategically consider meeting the challenge of a disruptive technology such as additive manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss changes in positions and roles related to the implementation of a disruptive technology.

Design/methodology/approach: Additive manufacturing could be expected to have different consequences for parties based on their current supply chain positions. The paper therefore investigates companies’ strategies related to various supply chain positions and does so by departing from a position and role point of view. Three business cases related to metal 3D printing – illustrating sub-suppliers, manufacturers and logistics firms – describe as many strategies. Data for the cases were collected through meetings, interviews, seminars and secondary data focusing on both current business activities related to additive manufacturing and scenarios for the future.

Findings: The companies attempted to defend their current positions, leading to new roles for them. This disconnects the change of roles from that of positions. The changed roles indicate that all parties, regardless of supply chain positions, would move into competing producing roles, thereby indicating how a disruptive technology may disrupt network structures based on companies’ attempts to defend their positions.

Originality/value: The paper contributes to previous research by reporting a disconnect between positions and roles among firms when disruption takes place. The paper further denotes how the investigated firms largely disregarded network consequences at the disruptive stage, caused by the introduction of additive manufacturing. The paper also contributes to research on additive manufacturing by including a business dimension and linking this to positions and roles.

Öberg, C. & Shams, T. (2019). On the verge of disruption: Rethinking position and role – The case of additive manufacturing. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 34(5), 1093-1105. DOI: 10.1108/JBIM-10-2018-0293

Sharing economy models and sustainability: Towards a typology

Article (with peer review)Publication

Öberg, C.

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Publication year

2024

Published in

Journal of Cleaner Production

Abstract

The sharing economy was initially beckoned as a facilitator of exchanges that would not compromise future needs and held great promise for those at the lower end of the socioeconomic pyramid. However, as the sharing economy expanded, questions about its sustainability emerged. This expansion manifested in two main forms: an influx of new users and providers into existing operations and the emergence of new platforms, resulting in a proliferation of sharing economy models. By categorizing these models based on their resource utilization, this paper establishes a connection between scalability and compromised sustainability, shedding light on the interplay between the two. The paper identifies seven distinct configurations in the sharing economy: co-use, re-use, repeated use, sustainable output, pooling of resources, and products and services created specifically for individual users. These configurations serve as a tool to uncover the tensions between scalability and coordination, as well as between sustainability and provision. The paper contributes to prior research by bringing attention to how the sharing economy is entangled in these tensions and by developing a typology. Understanding how these tensions can be resolved presents a highly significant practical contribution, allowing stakeholders in the sharing economy to navigate the challenges of scalability and sustainability effectively.

Does the freelance economy promote creative freedom?

Article (with peer review)Publication

Öberg, C.

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Publication year

2024

Published in

Journal of Management & Organization

Abstract

This paper builds on the creation of new ways of organizing work, where the freelance economy specifically targets the increasing number of skilled self-employed individuals collaborating for shared output. Through describing and discussing creativity within the freelance economy, this paper seeks to understand creativity in collaborations among these self-employed individuals. Drawing from a case study conducted in the advertising sector, the paper concludes that creativity within the freelance economy occurs between equal and inherently creative freelancers rather than being the product of individual traits, despite their respective skills. Creativity between individuals arises when processes are appropriately formalized, while the creative output is constrained by individual decisions and styles. The paper contributes to existing research by shedding light on the distinctive characteristics of the freelance economy and its paradoxical organizational nature. By doing so, it offers insights that contrast with prior studies on artistic creativity.

Customers driving a firm’s responsible innovation response for grand challenges: A co‐active issue‐selling perspective.

Article (with peer review)Publication

Degbey, W. Y., Pelto, E., Öberg, C., & Carmeli, A.

Publication year

2023

Published in

Journal of Product Innovation. Management.

Abstract

Grand challenges vary across industries and call for firms to craft a responsible innovation response to effectively address them. However, key questions concerning why firms embrace responsible innovation and the process by which they respond to grand challenges have yet to be fully answered. We integrate an issue-selling theoretical lens and the customer role from an innovation perspective to theorize about the different influencing motives that customers exert on their corresponding supplying firm to craft a more responsible innovation response to grand challenges. Based on qualitative data collected in almost a 10-year period from multiple respondents across eight customer firms and two supplying firms, we identify three core motives—regulatory, business opportunity, and socio-environmental motives—that propel customers to influence supplying firms to craft different forms of responsible innovation responses. Our research also reveals three vital socio-human capital pathways—human capital, socio-behavioral, and relationship—which, in turn, foster a co-active engagement in addressing grand challenges innovatively and responsibly. In so doing, this research advances novel theorizing on co-active engagement in responsible innovation where the customer acts as the primary champion and the supplier as the implementer. We discuss the important implications for customers and other stakeholders.

Abstract

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