Emerging Technology Implementation In An Organization

Introduction

A significant aspect of the changes in the global economy in the last two decades is the economic liberalization of protected markets and the further liberalization of market economies. As part of these reforms, a number of developing countries implemented policies aimed at encouraging competition in the domestic marketplace, urging domestic firms to build international levels of competitiveness, and allowing multinational enterprises (MNEs) to enter their erstwhile protected markets. In the context of these institutional reforms, a critical question faced by local firms in developing countries is how to respond to the challenges presented by a radically changed competitive environment. The nature of local firms' strategic responses in this changed environment has strong implications for the perceived success or failure of economic reforms undertaken by developing country governments.

Institutional Changes And Firm Transformations In Emerging Economies

Firms from emerging markets face turbulent environments with rapid changes in political, economic and institutional forces. These firms not only have to cope with these turbulent changes, but also face new competition, which includes global firms entering domestic markets due to opening up of trade boundaries, liberalization and deregulation. What are the theoretical perspectives that can best explain the strategic response and choices of emerging market firms in such environments? In a context such as this, what types of research issues have attracted the attention of strategy scholars?

Organizational transformation

One of the important studies examining organizational transformation in emerging economies was a conceptual paper by Newman (pp.40). She argued that institutional changes in Eastern and Central Europe in the 1990s 'initiated a period of intense social, political, and economic change in the region' that 'destroyed the underlying assumptions of economic activity' (Newman, p. 602). Such monumental changes required second-order organizational learning (defined as change in the core values, templates and archetypes). However, it was speculated that firms which were more embedded with the past institutional environment were less likely to accomplish second-order transformation necessitated by changed 'rules of the game'. This view finds empirical support in a study on Lithuania. Kriauciunas and Kale (p.32) surveyed 67 firms to assess the factors that influence transition economy firms to change their operating know-how and knowledge sets (i.e., second-order learning defined by Newman (p.52)) to compete in a changed environment. Their findings suggest firms that were formed during the socialist era (thus having a 'socialist imprinting') were less able to change their operating knowledge. In addition, firms that were able to access external sources of knowledge were better able to meet the 'demands of the new market-oriented environment' (Kriauciunas and Kale, p. 659).

State-owned enterprises and privatization

One way for organizational transformation and to access outside resources (including capital, technology, and managerial know-how) is through the privatization of state-owned enterprises in a number of developing economies as part of the liberalization process.

In this regard, a number of studies have examined strategic transformation through privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Ramamurti (p.52) proposed a multi-level theoretical model incorporating firm-, industry- and country-level factors to explain the likelihood of a particular SOE being privatized and how they impact post-privatization ...