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

Towards a typology of sharing economy business model transformation

Article (with peer review)Publication

Öberg, C.

Publication year

2023

Published in

Technovation, 123, 102722.

Abstract

The development of the sharing economy has resulted in a plethora of sharing economy business models. This paper takes its motivation from the increased variety of sharing economy business models to develop a typology of sharing economy business model transformations. It does so through creating a timeline of the sharing economy development, capturing business model configurations as activity systems along that development, and tracing mechanisms affecting sharing economy business model transformations. The paper thereby interlinks the sharing economy development on the phenomenon level with transformations of its business models. The paper contributes to past research by presenting a systematic account of the development of the sharing economy and its resulting business model configurations and by developing a typology focusing on the types of changes that have transformed the sharing economy business models and resulted in the plethora of business models.

The article can be accessed here.

Social media analytics for innovation management research: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

Article (with peer review)Publication

Geissinger, A., Laurell, C., Öberg, C., & Sandström, C.

Publication year

2023

Published in

Technovation, 123, 102712.

Abstract

New trends in innovation management may require new research methods. Social media analytics (SMA)—a method for capturing and analyzing data from user-generated content published on online platforms—has emerged as a complement or even alternative to more traditional research methods. This article systematically reviews and assesses the use of SMA and its potential for innovation management research. Our results show that use of SMA is still in an emergent phase, although it has become increasingly popular over the past decade. Our literature review illustrates that SMA provides new opportunities for innovation management scholars to enhance customer-, market-, technology-, and society-focused innovation research in several ways. In this paper we develop a research agenda and suggest areas for future research using SMA in innovation management.

The article can be accessed here.

Trust and the sharing economy

Article (with peer review)Publication

Pelgander, L., Öberg, C., & Barkenäs, L.

Publication year

(2022).

Published in

Digital Business, 100048.

Abstract

Trust is intimately connected with relational interactions, but does it also have a role to play in transactional exchanges? How would it differ? While trust has been discussed extensively in sharing economy research, the focus has been on trust cues created in exchanges between strangers, thereby approaching trust empirically rather than theoretically. Focusing on user trust, this paper investigates how trust constructs from relational interactions manifest in the sharing economy. This paper bridges sharing economy research with trust as a theoretical construct to investigate the well-established variables of ability, benevolence and integrity as components of trust in the sharing economy. The paper is based on a questionnaire survey of 175 users of Uber’s co-driving service UberPop. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted focusing on user trust in the platform and providers. The findings indicate how trust in transactional exchanges is shaped differently compared with trust in relational interactions. User trust in providers, which diminishes over time, is based on emotional traits, while user trust in the platform is based on functional components. The platform and providers thereby complement each other in terms of the trust created. This paper contributes to research on trust by focusing on trust in transactional exchanges, and to research on the sharing economy by investigating trust based on theoretical constructs.

Abstract

Similar content