Tóm tắt: An investigation into the logic of artisan product innovation: An institutional logics perspective

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY



NGUYEN VAN DAI

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE LOGIC

OF ARTISAN PRODUCT INNOVATION:

AN INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS PERSPECTIVE

PHD DISSERTATION SUMMARY

HANOI - 2023

THE RESEARCH PROJECT HAS BEEN CONDUCTED

AT THE NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: 1 PROF.DR NGUYEN THI TUYET MAI

2 DR NGUYEN QUYNH HOA

Reviewers:

1: Assoc Prof Nguyen Ngoc Thang 2: Dr Nguyen Hoai Nam

3: Assoc Prof Le Thai Phong

The dissertation defense at the university level

at National Economics University

On: ………

The dissertation is archived at:

- The National Library of Vietnam

- The Library of National Economics University 

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the research

As stated by Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), a well-known Arabian

philosopher, “Blindly following ancient customs and traditions doesn’t mean

that the dead are alive, but that the living are dead.” He was among the ones

who early concerned not only about the perpetuation of traditions but also

about consequences of inertia anchored to such traditions His concern speaks

volume about the need of change, the initial form of innovation

Product innovation is a much-researched topic in the literature and it is

important to businesses in various ways Production innovation can boost

survivability and competitiveness of business in a competitive market (Holt,

2002) It helps business improve performance (Prajogo, 2006), sale and profit

(Forés & Camisón, 2016) Compared to process innovation, product innovation

prevails regarding productivity growth (Peters et al., 2017), revenue

productivity (Hall, 2011), and demand boosting (Jaumandreu & Mairesse, 2017)

Despite the significance of product innovation in business and

management literature, it has not been a fashionable theme in artisan business

literature compared to themes such as collaboration, value, competition, growth,

and capital (Pret & Cogan, 2019) Whilst, business has also been overlooked in

the mainstream of business and management literature (Pret & Cogan, 2019)

Further, the key studies on business have disproportionately analysed Western

countries rather than developing countries where make a case for researchers to

see actions of artisan businesses In contrast, the existing literature has given a

varied nature of innovation in business (Girón et al., 2007; Väänänen & Pöllänen,

2020) Along with a very long history, the nature of craft is varied from pure craft,

technical craft to creative craft which are divided into traditional craft and

industrialized craft (Kroezen et al., 2021) While pure craft strongly emphasizes

human labor, skills and passion, local tradition, and low interest in the market, the

technical craft is characterized by a moderate interest in professionalism and the

market, with great importance on mechanization Creative craft focuses more on

aesthetics and creativity The craft can become a national identity beyond the place

of origin (Costin, 1998; Scrase, 2003)

Product innovation is driven by many forces Some studies focused on market factors such as competition, Customers, materials, and technology (Chang

& Chen, 2014; Vega-Jurado et al., 2008; Zhang & Duan, 2010) In contrast, some scholars mainly focused on intangible factors such as national culture (Evanschitzky et al., 2012) or institution (Tebaldi & Elmslie, 2013) Unfortunately, a gap in the current literature is that if the business is simultaneously facing great but different pressures from the market (e.g customer taste and competition) and the inertia of institutional factors, (e.g traditional values), how will products change? Such a puzzle is still left unanswered by the current literature, particularly business (Pret & Cogan, 2019)

From a theoretical view, since the call from Thornton and Ocasio (2008), key scholars in this field, refering to consideration of the role of identity in the institutional logics perspective to better understand how agents manage logics, the extant literature has left it unexplored (Onishi, 2019) The existing literature emphasizes that institutional logics perspective widens the room for further discussion and explanation of how entities change their practices As defined by

“the socially constructed, historical patterns of material practices, assumptions,

values, beliefs, and rules” (Thornton & Ocasio, 1999, p.804), institutional logics

help us better understand organizational responses in an institutionalized context because they prescribe the institutional demands or instructions for agents to act upon

to avoid the unexpected negative consequence or gain benefits (Pache & Santos, 2010) Unfortunately, we still have a dearth in our understanding of why some agents

in a unique context take actions they come up with As concluded by Binder (2007, p.568), “Logics are not purely top-down: real people, in real contexts, with consequential past experiences of their own, play with them, question them, combine them with institutional logics from other domains, take what they can use from them, and make them fit their needs.” We still lack the depth in our understanding in terms of how agents respond to logics strategically and how they confirm who they are in such a process

Market logic and artisan logic have been selected for further analysis in the current study to address the puzzle of how product innovation takes place in

artisan businesses First, they are well established in the literature Second, the

exploration phase in the field with Hoang, Van Anh and Tuc suggests that market

logic and artisan logic are in line with status quo of the researched community

where witnesses the simultaneous phenomena including inertia of traditional

artisan values passing over generations and the permeation of market rules that

replace the old rules of collectivism

Bat Trang is a good case for shedding light on product innovation in an

institutionally complex context Not only has part of artisan ceramic products

changed over time, but also others have remained unchanged in Bat Trang

Selecting artisan business owners as key informants for analyzing product

innovation, this study is expected to (i) Identify the level of product innovation

among artisan businesses; (ii) Develop an analytical framework to investigate

how businesses innovate their product by interweaving product innovation,

counter-institutional identity and institutional logics in a more broader and

systematic framework

2 Research objectives and questions

Research objectives and questions

The general research objective of this PhD dissertation is to develop a

framework that builds on an institutional logics perspective to analyse API

The general research objective will be broken down further into some

specific research objectives:

Research objective 1: Identify the extent to which artisan businesses innovate their

products

Research objective 2: Develop a framework based on institutional logics

perspective to understand artisan product innovation

Research questions:

Research question 1: What is the pattern of product innovation of artisan

businesses?

Research question 2: How is artisan product innovation grounded in market

logic and artisan logic?

3 Subject and scope of the research

The object of the research is the mechanism of API Subjects that participate in the current research include ABOs as the main

data source in addition to business owners, local artisans and citizens of the selected community and Customers The reason why these research subjects are included will be further explained in detail in the Research Method chapter (Chapter 2)

Scope of the research:

Scope of space: This is an empirical study selecting artisan businesses in Bat Trang, local artisan ceramic community, in Hanoi, Vietnam

Scope of the timeline: primary data collected from 2021 October to 2022 June, in addition to the informal talks and observations conducted before and after this period

Scope of content: This PhD dissertation is to (1) identify product innovation

at different levels; (2) exploration of logics based on detailed description of logics’ attributes and their compatibility; (3) exploration of entrepreneurial identity and artisan identity; (4) development of an analytical framework for API

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Key concepts

Artisan or craft products are defined as “those produced by artisans, either

completely by hand, or with the help of hand tools or even mechanical means,

as long as the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the most

substantial component of the finished product These are produced without

restriction in terms of quantity and using raw materials from sustainable

resources The special nature of artisanal products derives from their

distinctive features, which can be utilitarian, aesthetic, artistic, creative,

culturally attached, decorative, functional, traditional, religiously and socially

symbolic and significant” (UNESCO & ITC, 1997, p.6)

Innovation is defined as “a new or improved product or process (or combination

thereof) that differs significantly from the unit’s previous products or processes and that

has been made available to potential users (product) or brought into use by the unit

(process)” (OECD & EUROSTAT, 2018, p.20)

Product innovation “can run the gamut from new products and product-line

extensions to product improvements and style changes” (Heany, 1983, p.3)

Product innovation is important because it is critical to business survival

and development and it is found to have more benefits for firms than process

innovation

Product innovation can be divided into incremental level and radical level

Incremental product innovation refers to small and gradual changes over time while

radical product innovation includes products that are new to the market (Tidd &

Bessant, 2022; OECD, 2018)

Institutional logics are defined as “the socially constructed, historical

patterns of material practices, assumptions, values, beliefs, and rules by which

individuals produce and reproduce their material subsistence, organize time and

space, and provide meaning to their social reality” (Thornton & Ocasio, 1999,

p.804)

Chreim et al (2020, p.1) define counter-institutional identity as “individual and collective constructions of ‘who we are’ that are in strong opposition to dominant values and principles in the field, diverge from roles that are established through socialization and training, and involve practices that are proudly construed in direct contrast to field norms” Two counter-institutional identities include oppositional identity and relational identity

1.2 Sources of product innovation

Product innovation can result from a number of sources such as Demand pull (Stoneman et al., 2018), Knowledge and techbology push (Vega-Jurado et al., 2008), learning (Sheng & Chien, 2015), Leadership (Kiewitz et al., 2016), Competition (Acemoglu & Cao, 2015), Institution (Wu, 2013)

1.3 Responses to logics

There are two main strategic responses to logics including coupling and decoupling Coupling logics refers to the way in which agents will attempt to either match or follow the demands of logics at once (Dalpiaz et al., 2016; Lindbergh & Schwartz, 2021) while decoupling logics is when “organizations achieve legitimacy through espoused action but remain efficient or consistent through actual action, which enhances their survival prospects.” Jonsson (2017, p.81)

1.4 Logics in artisan business

In artisan business, two main logics that will be considered are market logic and artisan logic Market logic is “a core set of ideas, practices, and policy prescriptions that protect the liberty of individuals to pursue their economic interests and embrace free-market solutions to economic and social problems” (Zhao & Wry, 2016) Artisan logic is a specific type of professional logic that refers to the professional values and norms (Scott, 2000; Pettersen & Solstad,

2014)

1.5 Research gap

The pattern of artisan product innovation is still under-researched So, it is still a myth in the business literature The existing literature has identified a number of sources of product innovation such as demand (Stoneman et al., 2018;

Lewrick et al., 2011), knowledge (Lamperti et al., 2016), leadership (Chang et al.,

2015), competition (Gabszewicz & Tarola, 2012), and even institution (Tebaldi

& Elmslie, 2013) However, the degrees of artisan product innovation are still

unclear Bygballe and Ingemansson (2014) emphasized the need to clarify who

undertakes innovation with what types of innovation, how innovation can happen,

and why it does not occur or occur He concluded that the current new product

strategies of businesses have focused on market-related dimensions, business

environment, and internal key capabilities So, the current dissertation will fill the

gap by providing more insights into the pattern of API with which it reports on

degrees of product innovation in an institutionalized context of artisanship

As stated in the literature review above, the existing literature has ignored

the promising phenomenon of artisan product innovation to see how identities can

get in institutional logics perspective to collectively give more insights into the

pattern of product innovation Despite the fact that artisans are those who present

a high level of autonomy (Sennett, 2008) and identity related to their products and

practices (Holroyd et al., 2017; Jakubanecs & Supphellen, 2016), identity of

artisans as agents in an institutional context is hidden in the analysis of artisan

product innovation Further, the existing literature not only remains silent about

presentation of identity in institutional logics analysis, but also overlooks how

agents’ responses are created in light of identity in the context where institutional

logics co-exist (Onishi, 2019) The state of the art in both literatures, product

innovation and institutional logics, bears a disrupted explanation for product

innovation due to the underestimation of identity of agents As proved by

Thornton and Ocasio (2008), institutional logics perspective is different from

institutional theory because institutional logics perspective commands that agents

are not only the followers of rules of the game, but also the change makers In

other words, institutional logics perspective allows agents to take their strategic

response to cope with logics without ruining their identity We still lack the depth

in our understanding in terms of how agents respond to logics strategically and

how they confirm who they are in such a process So, the current study will take

this chance to fill the gap by engaging counter-institutional identity in institutional

logics perspective as a theoretical foundation for analyzing product innovation

amongst artisan businesses

Finally, the previous studies also ignored the varied nature of the relationship between institutional logics They rarely dived deeper into the components of the logic to see further the varied nature of the relationship between logics Previous studies often concluded that one logic is either compatible or incompatible with another logic Whilst, one logic can consist of many components (Thornton & Ocasio, 2008; Pache & Santos, 2013) By further analyzing relationship between logics based on their components, further studies can address this gap of the current studies When this varied nature of the relationship between institutional logics is clarified, it helps us better understand the responses to institutional logics through product innovation

1.6 General analytical framework

The analytical framework below (Figure 1) starts with logics that provide

a context for artisan business Accordingly, each identity (artisan identity as oppositional identity and entrepreneurial identity as relational identity) will go together to determine the way in which artisan products are innovated All of this process is located in and framed by institutional logics (market logic and artisan logic)

Figure 1: Analytical framework of product innovation in artisan

business

Source: developed by the author

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Figure 2: Visualization of Research Procedure

Source: by the author

2.1 Research context

Bat Trang has been chosen as the research site of the present study because

it provides an appropriate and interesting context for analysis of logics and

practices through product innovation Further, it helps shed more light on the next

steps in the research procedure Structure of local economy of Bat Trang is

inclined to manufacturing industries, absolutely dominated by ceramic

production Further, ceramic production in Bat Trang has had a very long

historical development of over 700 years since serving different Vietnamese

Artisan ceramic production in Bat Trang has seen a significant change since Doi

Moi in 1986, an economic reform, in Vietnam Two local professional ceramic

associations are established in Bat Trang and Giang Cao where artisan business

owners share ideas on products, production methods, materials and support each

other in business

2.2 Methodology

In the current research, interpretivism with qualitative methodology was applied Case study was employed as research strategy because it allows the author to compare across cases to create themes (Creswell & Poth, 2018) Theoretical sampling was used to create the research sample that include Artisan business owner, Business owners, Artisans, Customers, Local citizens

Data collection

This section presents how this study collected qualitative data in Bat Trang from October 2021 to June 2022 This data collection can be broken down further into 2 phases including preparatory phase and official data collection phase This study applied semi-structured in-depth interview as a main data collection tool, in addition to observation and informal talks

Figure 3: Overview of data collection

Source: by the author

Data collection was conducted into two main phases The preparatory phase focused on the pre-condition for the official data collection phase The preparatory phase started with desk research to provide the author background knowledge about the researched local community of Bat Trang It moved on with interviews with some local community members who have much experience about ceramic products and production

Official data collection phase was conducted with a number of

semi-structured in-depth interviews with 5 groups of informants, not to mention the

informal talks and observation in the field

Data collected were analyzed in 02 rounds in which independent coding

and analysis was followed by group discussion

Figure 4: Overview of data analysis

Source: developed by the author

Pattern-matching technique and Gioia et al.’s method were employed for

coding and analyzing data

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH RESULTS 3.1 Product innovation

To respond to the research objective 1, this study found that product innovation was conducted in different degrees including incremental innovation and radical innovation Incremental innovation refers to small changes in design, color, ingredients, and functions of artisan products while radical innovation refers to new-to-the-world products

3.2 Logics and their compatibility

The current study found a blurry boundary between market logic and artisan logic in a way in which not all attributes of these two logics are conflicting The current study conceptualizes the blurry boundary between logics as blended that refers to a hybrid relationship in which two logics are competing and synergistic with each other at the same time The mutual intersection of these two logics recommends nuanced responses that allows newness to more pronounced in artisan products as long as it does not violate the artisan logic’s attributes outside the intersection

Figure 5: Boundary of Market Logic and Artisan Logic in Product

Innovation

Source: Conceptualized by the author

3.3 Counter-institutional identities among artisan business owners

Oppositional identity of artisan business owners is characterized with 7

attributes of must-have craft, autonomy, localness, collective voice,

craft-maintaining responsibility, aesthetic logic and symbolic value

Relational identity reflects competitor and customer orientation,

cost-benefit analysis, utility of artisan product, and entrepreneurial attribute

3.4 Comparative counter-institutional identities and product

innovation

To complete the development of an analytical framework for artisan

product innovation, table 1 below presents the qualitative data axial coding on the

connection between oppositional (artisan) identity, relational (entrepreneurial)

identity, and artisan product innovation in institutional logics’ frame

Table 1: Result of mapping counter-institutional identities and product

innovation Oppositional

Identity

Relational Identity

Selective Coupling Core-satellite ABUSINESS

OWNER-01

ABUSINESS

OWNER-02

ABUSINESS

OWNER-03

ABUSINESS

OWNER-04

ABUSINESS

OWNER-05

ABO-06 Moderate Moderate Applicable Not applicable

ABO-07 Strong Moderate Applicable

Oppositional Identity

Relational Identity

Selective Coupling Core-satellite ABO-08 Weak Strong Applicable Not applicable

ABO-09 Moderate Moderate Applicable Not applicable

ABO-10 Strong Moderate Applicable

ABO-11 Strong Moderate Applicable

ABO-12 Strong Strong Applicable

ABO-13 Moderate Weak Applicable Not applicable

ABO-14 Moderate Moderate Applicable Not applicable

ABO-15 Strong Weak Applicable Not applicable

An analytical framework for product innovation has been developed as presented in figure 6 It will start with the context where multiple logics co-exist and frame artisan businesses It informs us of the long-lasting process in which the identification of logic occurs along with the counter-institutional identities in the making Oppositional identity (who we are not) is in line with artisan logic that prescribes the artisan standards serving as a foundation for oppositional identity Similarly, market logic has rules of the game that give rise to relational identity in the making Rather than the single effect of either oppositional identity or relational identity but the comparative strength between them will play a decisive role in the adoption of a strategic response

to logics When relational identity is strong and oppositional identity is weak, incremental product innovation and even radical PI will be adopted as an outcome of selectively coupling the logics However, when artisan identity is strong and entrepreneurial identity is either strong or moderate, Core-Satellite tends to be applied to reconcile the competing pressure from multiple logics This framework suggests that logics do not directly shape product innovation

but they frame an institutional context and create a ground for it Further, this

framework also shows that artisan and entrepreneurial identities directly

determine how strategic responses in product innovation are conducted

However, these identities did not come from nowhere They are attached with

the relevant logics

Figure 6: Proposed framework of API

in the multiple-logic context

Source: the development of the author

CHAPTER 4 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATION

4.1 Discussion of results

The current qualitative study confirmed that strategic response embedded

in product innovation in artisan business is varied The important finding of this research is the identification of a new response that is conceptualized as Core-Satellite The varied nature of product innovation is grounded on the blurry boundary of the mutual intersection between market logic and artisan logic The mutual intersection between logics that is created by the compatible attributes of both logics enables artisan business owners to have a more flexible action in product innovation to satisfy both institutional logics’ demands This research result showcases the weak point in the existing literature It emphasized the role of counter-institutional identity in institutional logics perspective to uncover agents’ responses In institutional logics perspective, logics signal the directions for actions while comparative strength between counter-institutional identities directly determines the specific responses of agents The current study also develops a framework for the analysis of product innovation as strategic response among artisan businesses

The current study’s results challenge the bias that claims that radical innovation is impossible for small-scale businesses As noted by Rubera and Kirca (2012), although firms can greatly benefit from radical product innovation than incremental product innovation, it is much harder for them to take radical product innovation due to many barriers such as organizational characteristics, leadership or financial constraints (Slater et al., 2013)

This dissertation also confirms the importance of ABOs as institutional

entrepreneurs as those whose role “is to reform or revolutionize the pattern

of production by exploiting an invention or, more generally, an untried technological possibility for producing a new commodity or producing an old one in a new way, by opening up a new source of supply of materials or a new

outlet for products, by reorganizing an industry and so on.” (Schumpeter,

1976, p.132)

Core-Satellite has been found as an emerging response embedded in

product innovation among artisan businesses as a means to “institutionally

bending without organizationally breaking” competing logics that co-exist

(Gümüsay et al., 2020) The resilience of a craft business as a hybrid

organization can be achieved by the incompatible logic based on elastic

hybridity (Gümüsay et al., 2020)

The blended relationship between logics also extends our understanding

about compatibility between logics by showing a partial compatibility between

two logics The current study, however, shows that the relationship between

logics can exist in a blended form in which some attributes are compatible

while other attribute may be incompatible The partial compatibility of the two

logics is a ground for the multi-faceted actions at business level where multiple

logics partly reinforce the businesses’ actions (Besharov & Smith, 2014) Thus,

the current study provides further evidence that supports Trojan horse as the

strategic response in coupling logics conceptualized by Pache and Santos

(2013) with which social enterprises that originate from the business field but

try to engage in social welfare logic incorporate some institutional elements of

social welfare logic to achieve a higher level of legitimacy

This study provides more evidence about the ambidexterity of hybrid

organizations through their diverse responses In the current research, artisan

businesses confirmed themselves as ambidextrous organizations which show high

competence in coping with different demands Unlike the agents that are kept in

an iron cage that makes them similar (Dimaggio & Powell, 1983; Weber, 1952),

the current study challenges the original concept of isomorphism in which

organizations are so similar in their structure and actions when they face the same

competitive forces or are in the same environment

4.2 Theoretical contributions of the research

This dissertation has made some theoretical contributions First, this study

found a new strategic response in product innovation among artisan businesses It

extends the analysis by Gümüsay et al (2020) in which hybrid organizations can

“institutionally bending without organizationally breaking” competing logics that co-exist Further, this study also found a blended relationship between market logic and artisan logic based on a blurry boundary between these two The existence of this blended relationship clarifies the nuance in the response to logics taken by artisan business owners While the extant literature overlooked the role

of identity in institutional logics perspective, this study filled this gap by stating that counter-institutional identity that is premised on logics directly drives how product innovation is undertaken This finding supports the suggestion of the role that identities play in hybrid organizations (Jay, 2013; Anderson-Gough et al., 2022) Finally, an analytical framework has been developed based on the interplay between institutional logics, counter-institutional identity and product innovation This framework presents multi-layered connection in which artisan product innovation occurs It further claims that logics do not show pure top-down demands but leave room for the role of agents who do not need to delete their identity when coping with logics

4.3 Practical implications

This dissertation has produced some key takeaways for artisan businesses and government policymakers First, this dissertation suggests that artisan business owners can innovate their products at a certain level if they can avoid role conflict between business owner and artisan They also can maintain two product lines but should leave them geographically separated One product line should be Core that refers to excellent artisan products Whilst, another product line is innovated ones This study further recommends that artisan businesses can apply technology in their production as long as technology adoption does not undermine the identification of the core value of artisan products Moreover, government policymakers should sustain the current philosophy in a more appropriate manner that emphasizes the need for

“Preservation for development, Development for preservation” and put it in practice The support from government policies should target cultural events

to make artisan product more visible in the public The support for artisan professional association is key for the continuity of artisanship in Vietnam