Bootlegging (business)

Last updated

Bootlegging in corporate research and development is defined as "a non-formalised and non-declared (secret) bottom-up innovation process for the benefit of the bootlegger's firm." [1] [2] In corporate bootlegging, an employee works on a project or projects unconnected to their "official" work, and is generally allowed to do so in the understanding that it may benefit the company in some way; however, managerial approval is not always given. David A. Schon introduced the notion of bootlegging into economics and business administration literature in 1963.

Contents

Bootlegging, as it is illegitimate behaviour, may cause an ethical dilemma between moral imperatives (i.e. the anomie caused from management's action plan versus the task to innovate). However, sometimes bootlegging can be carried out in a conspiration with management (conspirational bootlegging). Bootlegging which continues despite explicit managerial disapproval is called "hardcore bootlegging" [3] or "creative deviance". [4]

Causes

The main reason for the occurrence of bootlegging in corporations is the perceived lack of 'free space' for creativity in an employee's role. In particular, a business that emphasises elements of rigid planning – such as an enforced business hierarchy, an emphasis on project proposals, decisions only being taken after cautious initial findings – may clash with an employee's desire for experimental trial and error research.

Bootlegging, as a kind of self-regulating element, bridges the mechanistic world of organization with the chaotic world of creativity and innovation. The theory of path dependency explains why bootleg innovations are (most often) in line with the strategic objectives of the firm: corporate competencies define the search paths for its future. In this respect, the learning processes that are part of bootlegging, beside the tangible output of bootlegging, are beneficial for the firm.

Bootlegging should not be confused with skunk works: skunk work is defined as a sort of elite, working officially on a given project alongside the formal organization to solve problems more efficiently. In fact the Pacific tech's Graphing Calculator project, NuCalc, at Apple Computer was not a skunk works project but a bootleg project.

Permitted bootlegging

Permitted bootlegging is research time where technical staff are allowed to spend a certain amount of their time working on 'pet-projects' in the hope that some day there is some return for the company. Famous examples of companies that follow such an initiative are 3M and Hewlett-Packard. They allow 10 to 15 percent of the working time for own product related interests.

A well-known example of a permitted bootleg product is the yellow sticky Post-it note developed by Arthur Fry and Spencer Silver at 3M.

Another famous example is Google, where employees are allowed to spend up to 20% of their work time in personal projects related to the company's business. Several services provided by Google such as Gmail, Google News, Orkut and AdSense were originally created by employees in their work time. [5]

When permitted bootlegging is open to member of an organization, regardless of function or seniority, it is called Grassroots innovation.

In other languages

The specific phrase used to describe bootlegging varies by language. Quite a few firms have their own specific terms for it.

See also

Notes

  1. Augsdorfer, Peter (2021). Forbidden Fruit, An Analysis of Bootlegging, Uncertainty and Learning in Corporate R&D, 2 edition. Amazon. p. 22. ISBN   978-3000655821.
  2. Augsdorfer, Peter (1996). Forbidden fruit : an analysis of bootlegging, uncertainty, and learning in corporate R & D. Aldershot, Hants, England: Avebury. ISBN   1-85972-333-0. OCLC   35073633.
  3. Augsdorfer, Peter (1996). Forbidden Fruit, An Analysis of Bootlegging, Uncertainty and Learning in Corporate R&D. Aldershot: Avebury. p. 19. ISBN   1859723330.
  4. Mainemelis, CHARALAMPOS (2010). "STEALING FIRE: CREATIVE DEVIANCE IN THE EVOLUTION OF NEW IDEAS". Academy of Management Review. 35: 558–578.
  5. "What's it like to work in Engineering, Operations, & IT?." Google. Retrieved on 2 August 2006.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corporate crime</span> Crimes committed either by a corporation or its representatives

In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a corporation, or by individuals acting on behalf of a corporation or other business entity. For the worst corporate crimes, corporations may face judicial dissolution, sometimes called the "corporate death penalty", which is a legal procedure in which a corporation is forced to dissolve or cease to exist.

In business and engineering, product development or new product development covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product and introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along with various business considerations. New product development is described broadly as the transformation of a market opportunity into a product available for sale. The products developed by an organisation provide the means for it to generate income. For many technology-intensive firms their approach is based on exploiting technological innovation in a rapidly changing market.

Real options valuation, also often termed real options analysis, applies option valuation techniques to capital budgeting decisions. A real option itself, is the right—but not the obligation—to undertake certain business initiatives, such as deferring, abandoning, expanding, staging, or contracting a capital investment project. For example, real options valuation could examine the opportunity to invest in the expansion of a firm's factory and the alternative option to sell the factory.

Organizational learning is the process of creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within an organization. An organization improves over time as it gains experience. From this experience, it is able to create knowledge. This knowledge is broad, covering any topic that could better an organization. Examples may include ways to increase production efficiency or to develop beneficial investor relations. Knowledge is created at four different units: individual, group, organizational, and inter organizational.

Economies of scope are "efficiencies formed by variety, not volume". In economics, "economies" is synonymous with cost savings and "scope" is synonymous with broadening production/services through diversified products. Economies of scope is an economic theory stating that average total cost of production decrease as a result of increasing the number of different goods produced. For example, a gas station that sells gasoline can sell soda, milk, baked goods, etc. through their customer service representatives and thus gasoline companies achieve economies of scope.

In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of resources and an assessment of the internal and external environments in which the organization operates. Strategic management provides overall direction to an enterprise and involves specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve those objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the plans. Academics and practicing managers have developed numerous models and frameworks to assist in strategic decision-making in the context of complex environments and competitive dynamics. Strategic management is not static in nature; the models can include a feedback loop to monitor execution and to inform the next round of planning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Research and development</span> General term for activities in connection with corporate or governmental innovation

Research and development, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existing ones. Research and development constitutes the first stage of development of a potential new service or the production process.

Adaptive management, also known as adaptive resource management or adaptive environmental assessment and management, is a structured, iterative process of robust decision making in the face of uncertainty, with an aim to reducing uncertainty over time via system monitoring. In this way, decision making simultaneously meets one or more resource management objectives and, either passively or actively, accrues information needed to improve future management. Adaptive management is a tool which should be used not only to change a system, but also to learn about the system. Because adaptive management is based on a learning process, it improves long-run management outcomes. The challenge in using the adaptive management approach lies in finding the correct balance between gaining knowledge to improve management in the future and achieving the best short-term outcome based on current knowledge. This approach has more recently been employed in implementing international development programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foresight (futures studies)</span> Term referring to various activities in futurology

In futurology, especially in Europe, the term foresight has become widely used to describe activities such as:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Design management</span> Field of inquiry in business

Design management is a field of inquiry that uses design, strategy, project management and supply chain techniques to control a creative process, support a culture of creativity, and build a structure and organization for design. The objective of design management is to develop and maintain an efficient business environment in which an organization can achieve its strategic and mission goals through design. Design management is a comprehensive activity at all levels of business, from the discovery phase to the execution phase. "Simply put, design management is the business side of design. Design management encompasses the ongoing processes, business decisions, and strategies that enable innovation and create effectively-designed products, services, communications, environments, and brands that enhance our quality of life and provide organizational success." The discipline of design management overlaps with marketing management, operations management, and strategic management.

Intrapreneurship is the act of behaving like an entrepreneur while working within a large organization. Intrapreneurship is known as the practice of a corporate management style that integrates risk-taking and innovation approaches, as well as the reward and motivational techniques, that are more traditionally thought of as being the province of entrepreneurship. Corporate entrepreneurship is a more general term referring to entrepreneurial actions taking place within an existing organization whereas Intrapreneurship refers to individual activities and behaviors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertrand Moingeon</span> French academic

Bertrand Moingeon, was Professor of Strategic Management is Executive Vice-President and Dean for Executive Education and Corporate Initiatives at ESCP Business School and formerly at HEC Paris.

Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk, and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones.

A skunkworks project is a project developed by a relatively small and loosely structured group of people who research and develop a project, often with a very large degree of autonomy, primarily for the sake of radical innovation. The term originated with Lockheed's World War II Skunk Works project.

Technology scouting is an element of technology management in which

Innovation Intermediaries is a concept in innovation studies to help understand the role of firms, agencies and individuals that facilitate innovation by providing the bridging, brokering, knowledge transfer necessary to bring together the range of different organisations and knowledge needed to create successful innovation. The term open innovation intermediaries was used for this concept by Henry Chesbrough in his 2006 book as "companies that help other companies implement various facets of open innovation".

Corporate foresight has been conceptualised by strategic foresight practitioners and academics working and/or studying corporations as a set of practices, a set of capabilities and an ability of a firm. It enables firms to detect discontinuous change early, interpret its consequences for the firm, and inform future courses of action to ensure the long-term survival and success of the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corporate finance</span> Framework for corporate funding, capital structure, and investments

Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, and the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize or increase shareholder value.

Vincent Mangematin is a French researcher and professor in management, specialized in Strategy, Strategic management of Innovation and Technology Management. He is currently professor and scientific director at Grenoble Ecole de Management.

Abusive supervision is most commonly studied in the context of the workplace, although it can arise in other areas such as in the household and at school. "Abusive supervision has been investigated as an antecedent to negative subordinate workplace outcome." "Workplace violence has combination of situational and personal factors". The study that was conducted looked at the link between abusive supervision and different workplace events.

References