R&D Management - Call for Papers "R&D Management under disruption and uncertainty"
Guest editors: Xiaolan Fu, University of Oxford; Daitian Li, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China; Rajneesh Narula, University of Reading; Max von Zedtwitz, Copenhagen Business School; and Beverly Wagner, University of Strathclyde
Background: R&D management under disruption is important for both leading firms in developed countries (Christensen, 1997) and latecomer firms in emerging economies (Malerba and Lee, 2021). To embrace the disruption opportunity (Gilbert, 2003), firms must make smart R&D decisions under uncertainty.....
In summary, different types of disruption might break the "structural inertia" and "equilibrium" of an existing innovation system (Narula, 2002, 2003), bringing both challenges and opportunities for different actors' R&D activities. Apparently, different actors within an innovation system might respond to such uncertainties differently. For example, some firms might adopt proactive strategies to shape the innovation system in which they operate (i.e. 'voice' strategy), whereas other firms might adopt reactive strategies to either ignore the changes in the focal innovation system (i.e. 'loyalty' strategy) or exit the current innovation system (i.e. 'exit' strategy) (Hirschman, 1970). Some scholars (e.g., Millar et al., 2018) have started to discuss the challenges and opportunities brought by the disruptions and uncertainty in this era. Although there has been some progress along this line of thinking (Frynas et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2018; Schoemaker et al., 2018), we think the impact of disruptions and uncertainty in this era goes beyond R&D management within companies. It requires systemic thinking at the macro, meso, and micro levels from academic scholars, industry practitioners, and policymakers.
The main goal of the special issue: The main goal of this special issue is to call for more research on R&D management under disruption and uncertainty. We welcome submissions that address the intersection of disruption, uncertainty, and R&D management. For example, papers can address how different types of disruption/uncertainty affect organizations' R&D management (disruption/uncertainty as "antecedent") or examine how different R&D management practices can generate or reduce a specific type of disruption/uncertainty (disruption/uncertainty as "consequence"). We are open to different methodological approaches, such as conceptual, qualitative, and quantitative research.
Potential research questions:- Macro-level
- What role do disruption and uncertainty play in innovation systems?
- When and how do disruption and uncertainty in innovation systems affect activities and interactions of different actors, such as firm R&D, university R&D, and university-industry collaborations?
- How can different countries build open national innovation systems (Fu, 2015) in an era of disruption?
- Will disruption and uncertainty affect international research collaborations (Chen et al., 2019; Fu et al., 2021)? What policies are effective for enhancing international research collaborations under disruption and uncertainty?
- How can we build more inclusive innovation systems to guide the R&D of emerging technologies (e.g. AI)?
- What types of disruption can open "windows of opportunity" (Lee & Malerba, 2017) for developing countries? How can developing countries seize such "windows of opportunity"?
- Meso-level
- How do different types of disruption affect technological trajectories in different sectors?
- How do different types of disruption affect international linkages and sectoral dynamics in different sectors?
- When and how do disruption and uncertainty reshape global value chains?
- Why do different sectors differ in the patterns of innovative activities under uncertainty?
- How do different regional innovation systems differ in terms of capabilities to handle disruption and uncertainty?
- What are the impacts of different types of disruption on industrial leadership and latecomers' catching-up in different sectors?
- Micro-level
- How do different types of disruption and related uncertainties affect firms' R&D decisions and R&D activities?
- How can different actors of innovation systems (e.g. government, firm, university, research institute) manage their R&D activities under disruption and uncertainty?
- Why do different types of firms and non-firm actors in innovation systems respond to disruption and uncertainty differently (e.g. reactive responses versus proactive responses)?
- How do disruption and uncertainty affect firms' R&D strategy, management practices, investment behaviours, internationalization, or alliances/collaboration strategies (Narula and Martinez-Noya, 2015)?
- When and how do disruption and uncertainty affect open innovation at the firm level?
- When and how do disruption and uncertainty affect entrepreneurship at the "base of the pyramid" (Fu et al., 2022) and innovation activities in low-income countries (Fu, 2020)?
The above questions are listed only for illustrative purposes. We welcome any submissions that fit into the theme of the special issue.
Schedule:- First date of the open call: March 2022
- Online submission window: December 1, 2022 – January 31, 2023
- Expected publication date: First half of 2024
Marketing and author engagement: Pre-submission webinars / panels
We will offer opportunities for authors to engage with the editorial team prior to submitting a manuscript. We will organize online webinars, or panels at the R&D Management annual conference and the GLOBELICS annual conference, to advertise the special issue and encourage submissions.
- R&R workshop: We plan to organize an R&R workshop to help authors, who receive the first round Revise and Resubmit, further improve their papers.
- Post-publication panel: We will organize a post-publication panel at the AOM annual meeting to promote the selected papers in the special issue. We will also promote the special issue through online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and other social media.
