PhD Defence: Vikrant Sihag
In his dissertation ‘The Effectiveness of Organizational Controls: A meta-analytic review and an investigation in NPD outsourcing’ Vikrant Sihag extends on the behavioral and performance consequences of exercising organizational controls, both, in general and NPD outsourcing.
Vikrant Sihag defended his dissertation in the Senate Hall at Erasmus University Rotterdam on Thursday, 17 May 2019 at 13:30. His supervisors were Prof. Jan van den Ende (RSM) and Dr Serge Rijsdijk (Vrije University Amsterdam). Other members of the Doctoral Committee are Prof. Finn Wynstra (RSM), Prof. Fred Langerak (Eindhoven University of Technology), Prof. Pursey Heugens (RSM), Prof. Hans Berends (Vrije University Amsterdam) and Dr Katinka Bijlsma-Frankema (University of Groningen).
About Vikrant Sihag
Vikrant Sihag was born in 1985 in Hisar, Haryana, India. He has a Bachelor of Technology degree in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology Durgapur, India, with first class distinction, and a Master of Science degree in Supply Chain Management from Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation. Prior to pursuing his master’s degree, he worked at Personal Care Products SBU of ITC Limited (India), where he was primarily responsible for implementing systems and processes and managing improvement initiatives.
Vikrant pursued his doctoral research at the Innovation Management section of the department of Technology and Operations Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. His doctoral research focuses on the behavioral and performance implications of organizational controls. Vikrant’s research interests lie at the intersection of organizational controls, new product development, and inter-organizational relationships. He has presented his research at several international management conferences, such as Academy of Management, Innovation and Product Development Management Conference, and International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association.
Vikrant currently works as an Assistant Professor in the Innovation, Technology, Entrepreneurship & Marketing (ITEM) group of the department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology.
Thesis Abstract
Organizational controls have been recognized as an important aspect of the managers’ organizational life. Managers exercise organizational controls to direct and motivate employees and external partners to behave in desired ways. The extant research on the effectiveness of outcome, behavior, and clan control remains equivocal. This dissertation therefore focuses on two research objectives that aims to improve the understanding related to the behavioral and performance consequences of outcome, behavior, and clan control. The first research objective was to meta-analyze the relationship between the three organizational controls and performance along with their performance effects in combination. The second research objective was to investigate the behavioral and performance consequences of the three organizational controls in NPD outsourcing.
The two research objectives were met by conducting three empirical studies. The first study elucidates the relationships of outcome, behavior, and clan control with various performance outcomes, as well as that they act as complements. The second study reveals the effect of outcome, behavior, and clan control on supplier flexibility in NPD outsourcing, and what effect this has on NPD project performance. The third study examines whether the three organizational controls can influence a supplier to adhere to the specified prescriptions such that it sometimes does not use its own idiosyncratic expertise (supplier mechanical compliance), and also restrict the intrinsic motivation of the supplier in NPD outsourcing.
Collectively, this dissertation informs managers and scholars about the behavioral and performance consequences of exercising organizational controls, both, in general and NPD outsourcing.
Photos: Michelle Muus
