PARADOXICAL PRACTICES AND PRODUCT INNOVATION PERFORMANCE

Bio

Dr. Carl F. Fey is a Professor of Strategy at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway which he joined in September 2022. From January, 2016 – August, 2022 he was a Professor of International Business at Aalto University School of Business in Helsinki, Finland.  From 2011-2015 he was Dean of Nottingham University Business School China and led it through a substantial period of change and upgrading.  From 1997-2011 Fey was an Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and then Full Professor of International Business at Stockholm School of Economics where among other things he helped start and lead the development of a branch campus in Russia which became one of the top two players in Russia for EMBAs and executive education on which it focused.  Fey is an elected fellow of the Academy of International Business and is recipient of the 2013 Journal of International Business Studies Decade Award which is an award given for the article published one decade ago which has had the largest influence on the field of international business.  He is also an Affiliated Scholar at Boao Forum which is like the World Economic Forum for China. 

Fey is an expert in international business, innovation, leadership, knowledge transfer, organizational culture, virtual work, internationalization, and international mergers and acquisitions. Professor Fey’s work helps firms to understand which management practices can help increase organizational effectiveness in today’s increasingly dynamic and international world taking into account the future of work and cultural/institutional differences between countries. This culture-specific management practice fine-tuning provides companies a competitive edge. Professor Fey has a special interest in understanding what works well in China and other large transforming economies.  Fey is a highly sought-after executive educator and public speaker and also frequently in the media, normally having about 150 popular press appearances each year including republishing, trying to have his research have broader impact.  For example, see Fey on CGTN's business/economics TV talkshow talking about his innovation research at: https://www.cgtn.com/tv/replay?id=BECAAAA

Abstract

We argue that in today’s fast-moving business environment characterized by scarcity, change and plurality, the traditional perspectives on New Product Development (rational plan, communication web, disciplined problem-solving) should be complemented with a paradox perspective which harnesses the value of contradictory yet interdependent elements that persist over time.  We build on Smith & Lewis (2011) to examine how four pairs of ‘paradoxical practices’ (performing, organizing, learning and belonging) are associated with new product development outcomes (product effectiveness and process efficiency). Further, we argue that country context moderates the relationship between paradoxical practices and innovation outcomes.  Using empirical data from multiple respondents to a survey of 200 Chinese firms and 164 Nordic firms (Finland & Sweden), we show which of these paradoxical practices are related to which outcomes, and we find evidence that Chinese firms are better able to deal with paradoxical tensions present in new product development than Nordic firms.