Institutional means-ends decoupling work in industrial R&D project implementation

Rachid Jabbouri, Yann Truong, Dirk Schneckenberg and Mark Palmer
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Rachid Jabbouri: ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business
Yann Truong: BSB - Burgundy School of Business (BSB) - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Dijon Bourgogne (ESC)
Dirk Schneckenberg: ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business
Mark Palmer: QUB - Queen's University [Belfast]

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Abstract: Managing goals is a key network management function and is critical in the implementation of industrial R&D projects. In this paper, we explore the implementation of an industrial R&D project, focusing in particular upon the role of means-ends decoupling work to understand how the goals are managed. We combine several data sources in our case research to explore project implementation through an understanding of means-ends decoupling work. We collected in-depth interviews, archival records and field observations within the R&D research setting of an industrial R&D project in the period of 2015 to 2017. Our findings identify three types of means-ends decoupling work in R&D project implementation: ‘work on' causal complexity, ‘work at' behavioural invisibility, and ‘work with' practice multiplicity. In addition, we uncover six dynamic micro-mechanisms that collectively influence the making and nature of means-ends decoupling work and therefore serve to allow for the fluid switching of work as the institutional conditions permit. Overall, our findings have significant implications for understanding means-ends decoupling as a highly skilled network competence for managing R&D project implementation goals.

Keywords: Means-ends decoupling; Micro-mechanisms; Institutional theory; Industrial R&D projects; Implementation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-07
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Industrial Marketing Management, 2019, 80, pp.296-311. ⟨10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.01.012⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02290162

DOI: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.01.012

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