Francisco J Navarro-Meneses | Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Madrid (original) (raw)

Papers by Francisco J Navarro-Meneses

International journal of engineering business management, 2022

The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and ... more The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and their ability to survive. Notwithstanding its importance, value creation usually becomes a fuzzy concept that is difficult to grasp, especially when increasingly complex elements of reality are incorporated into its analysis. Building on the narrative of the firm as a complex adaptive system, this article provides empirical evidence showing value creation as emergent behavior resulting from hyperconnected value repositories. Several implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed. For scholars, expert knowledge is provided from 28 airline industry executives around the world together with a method based on fuzzy cognitive maps that allows modeling and simulating value creation in airlines through 26 value repositories and 77 interdependencies. For practitioners, the article raises awareness of the need to incorporate a complexity mindset into value creation analysis and smooths the transition towards a value performance management tool.

International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 2022

The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and ... more The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and their ability to survive. Notwithstanding its importance, value creation usually becomes a fuzzy concept that is difficult to grasp, especially when increasingly complex elements of reality are incorporated into its analysis. Building on the narrative of the firm as a complex adaptive system, this article provides empirical evidence showing value creation as emergent behavior resulting from hyperconnected value repositories. Several implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed. For scholars, expert knowledge is provided from 28 airline industry executives around the world together with a method based on fuzzy cognitive maps that allows modeling and simulating value creation in airlines through 26 value repositories and 77 interdependencies. For practitioners, the article raises awareness of the need to incorporate a complexity mindset into value creation analysis and smooths the transition towards a value performance management tool.

September, 2020

In times of uncertainty like the present, value creation is a critical factor that determines air... more In times of uncertainty like the present, value creation is a critical factor that determines airlines’ competitive capacity and their ability to survive. Understanding the value creation process in a more realistic way and facilitating a tool that helps managers to anticipate performance under simulated scenarios is the objective of this article. A Delphi survey of 28 executives from major airlines around the world was conducted that procured the knowledge for the so-called Airline Value Creation Network (AVCN), an operational analytical framework presented in this article along with its benefits and limitations. Implications for researchers and managers are discussed. For researchers, novel data and methodological inroads are offered that address the creation of value as a complex adaptive system. The use of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for modeling and simulation proves to be a viable computational method in this context. For managers, the research reveals key empirical evidence of reality that explains the creation of value as a network and provides an easy-to-use, fast-to-grow tool that can help inform airlines' value creation policies and decision-making.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

This is the "Summary Report" of the homonymous research project that had a dual purpose... more This is the "Summary Report" of the homonymous research project that had a dual purpose: 1) to offer executives and decision-makers a broad picture of the external variables and structural components that shape network airlines’ engine for value creation, and 2) to address the question: what actions could be more appropriate to increase value creation in airlines and to stay competitive. The goal pursued by this research project was therefore of a practical nature, with a particular focus in providing new ideas that support management teams in their process of improving value creation and anticipating performance.

Journal of Creating Value, 2021

Journal of Creating Value, 2021

Creating superior value for customers is a critical task for tourism organizations anywhere in th... more Creating superior value for customers is a critical task for tourism organizations anywhere in the world, especially those committed to recovering as quickly as possible from the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and emerge stronger in the new normal. However, despite the importance of having a plan to create value in the coming years, the mechanisms that are involved from within and outside tourism organizations remain fuzzy and, in most cases, are subject to heuristics and trial and error. The above highlights the complexity of the phenomenon of value creation itself—greatly influenced by the ever-increasing and varied number of agents that play a role in the tourism ecosystem—the powerful technologies that connect them, and customers who prioritize continuous innovation and higher quality of service. In this context, the rapid advances made in data science and the popularization of the tools that support it, to name just a few, are proving a life jacket for many tourism o...

Journal of Creating Value

Hospitality and tourism firms are suffering more than others the devastating effects of the COVID... more Hospitality and tourism firms are suffering more than others the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its recovery will require designing and implementing innovative value creation strategies that are hard to imagine with the simplifying cause-and-effect analytical frameworks so widespread today. Building on the narrative of the firm as a open complex adaptive system and the literature reviewed in economics and management, this article approaches value creation from the paradigm of complexity science and provides a conceptual bases that would allow value practitioners incorporate more realistic and holistic elements to its analysis. Several implications are outlined that could result from the adoption of this perspective and that might encourage a change in the mindset of scholars and firms’ managers. Guidelines for deeper exploration of value creation from complexity are also provided that could open new avenues for theoretical and methodological advance.

Journal of Creating Value

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Soci... more Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) has led a paradigm shift in the way social scientists understand and manipulate complex systems. However, little is known about the relationship between the two and how they can create meaningful synergies. A review of the evidence available on the connection agile-ABSS was conducted. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the value and limitations that can be derived from the connection. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common researc...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Understanding the behavior of the firm continues to be one of the key challenges of economic theo... more Understanding the behavior of the firm continues to be one of the key challenges of economic theory today, yet it remains elusive. Few other problems in the history of economics has persuaded the interest of so many economists, sociologists, psychologists, mathematicians, and even philosophers, as the endeavor to describe and somehow predict the behavior of the firm. However, a conspicuously lack of progress in terms of theoretical and practical outcomes shows that our theories are wrong or incomplete. In this paper the author highlights one key reason is that we fail to understand what complexity entails for the economic system and the firm, and suggests the need for an entirely new theoretical and methodological view of the firm based on complexity thinking. The evidence provided and the characterization made of the firm as a complex system are the prelude to a method to tackle complexity. The complexity-based view of the firm has strong implications for figuring out how to think about complexity of the firm, draft reality-bounded theories, and set the grounds for further research.

Journal of Creating Value

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Soci... more Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) has led a paradigm shift in the way social scientists understand and manipulate complex systems. However, little is known about the relationship between the two and how they can create meaningful synergies. A review of the evidence available on the connection agile-ABSS was conducted. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the value and limitations that can be derived from the connection. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common researc...

Journal of Creating Value, 2020

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Soci... more Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) has led a paradigm shift in the way social scientists understand and manipulate complex systems. However, little is known about the relationship between the two and how they can create meaningful synergies. A review of the evidence available on the connection agile-ABSS was conducted. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the value and limitations that can be derived from the connection. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common research agenda.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Developing a methodological framework which enables researchers and practitioners to tackle compl... more Developing a methodological framework which enables researchers and practitioners to tackle complexity in a practical way is key for the successful implementation of the complexity-based view of the firm. This paper seeks to provide a first attempt towards the development of such framework, specifically unravelling the activities, method and tools of its first and foremost stage: the mapping of complexity. The guidelines outlined in the paper will allow complexity practitioners to set solid foundations for a thorough understanding of the firm's complexity defining characteristics and how they operate, which constitutes an essential step for satisfactorily starting to address the challenges posed by complexity.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

There is not the slightest guarantee that scholars today are more capable to explain the behavior... more There is not the slightest guarantee that scholars today are more capable to explain the behavior of the firm than were 80 years ago, much less to predict how a particular firm behaves under real-world circumstances. In fact, most of the current theories of the firm fail to explain and predict the real behavior of the firm, and provide scarce practical guidance to managers. An important factor behind this fact is the conspicuous lack of consideration given to the study of the "environment" of the firm, both from a theoretical and methodological perspective. This paper stresses the need to carry out a reformulation of "classical" theories of the firm in the light of an open complex system approach, and implement renewed scientific tools to bring the theory closer to reality. The paper provides a tentative characterization of the next generation of theories of the firm and highlights the steps needed to get oriented in the right direction. The opportunities for keeping the theory of the firm relevant and achieve more fruitful results when it most needed, are enormous.

This is the "Summary Report" of the homonymous research project that had a dual purpose: 1) to of... more This is the "Summary Report" of the homonymous research project that had a dual purpose: 1) to offer executives and decision-makers a broad picture of the external variables and structural components that shape network airlines’ engine for value creation, and 2) to address the question: what actions could be more appropriate to increase value creation in airlines and to stay competitive. The goal pursued by this research project was therefore of a practical nature, with a particular focus in providing new ideas that support management teams in their process of improving value creation and anticipating performance.

Understanding the behavior of the firm continues to be one of the key challenges of economic theo... more Understanding the behavior of the firm continues to be one of the key challenges of economic theory today, yet it remains elusive. Few other problems in the history of economics has persuaded the interest of so many economists, sociologists, psychologists, mathematicians, and even philosophers, as the endeavor to describe and somehow predict the behavior of the firm. However, a conspicuously lack of progress in terms of theoretical and practical outcomes shows that our theories are wrong or incomplete. In this paper the author highlights one key reason is that we fail to understand what complexity entails for the economic system and the firm, and suggests the need for an entirely new theoretical and methodological view of the firm based on complexity thinking. The evidence provided and the characterization made of the firm as a complex system are the prelude to a method to tackle complexity. The complexity-based view of the firm has strong implications for figuring out how to think about complexity of the firm, draft reality-bounded theories, and set the grounds for further research.

Drafts by Francisco J Navarro-Meneses

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. However, the Age... more Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. However, the Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) community has not kept the same pace with the growing interest in agile methods. A review of the evidence available on the relation between agile and ABSS was conducted, with 649 studies identified through a search strategy, of which 11 were considered relevant references. The studies were grouped into three themes: conceptual applications, surveys/literature reviews, and case studies. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the benefits and limitations that can be derived from the relationship. Implications for researchers and practitioners are presented. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common research agenda.

Conference Presentations by Francisco J Navarro-Meneses

ENTER 2021 Conference, 2021

Digital transformation (DT) is facilitating new spaces for the creation and delivery of tourism s... more Digital transformation (DT) is facilitating new spaces for the creation and delivery of tourism services around the world. Through DT, organizations are learning innovative ways to engage customers, employees, and partners, improving their operational efficiency, and creating value in more sustainable ways. However, despite the growing importance of DT for tourism organizations, not all of them are familiar with the idea, nor are they undertaking the necessary changes alike: some are seizing the opportunity, while others are struggling to cope with the necessary changes.

International journal of engineering business management, 2022

The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and ... more The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and their ability to survive. Notwithstanding its importance, value creation usually becomes a fuzzy concept that is difficult to grasp, especially when increasingly complex elements of reality are incorporated into its analysis. Building on the narrative of the firm as a complex adaptive system, this article provides empirical evidence showing value creation as emergent behavior resulting from hyperconnected value repositories. Several implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed. For scholars, expert knowledge is provided from 28 airline industry executives around the world together with a method based on fuzzy cognitive maps that allows modeling and simulating value creation in airlines through 26 value repositories and 77 interdependencies. For practitioners, the article raises awareness of the need to incorporate a complexity mindset into value creation analysis and smooths the transition towards a value performance management tool.

International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 2022

The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and ... more The creation of value is a critical factor that determines the competitive capacity of firms and their ability to survive. Notwithstanding its importance, value creation usually becomes a fuzzy concept that is difficult to grasp, especially when increasingly complex elements of reality are incorporated into its analysis. Building on the narrative of the firm as a complex adaptive system, this article provides empirical evidence showing value creation as emergent behavior resulting from hyperconnected value repositories. Several implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed. For scholars, expert knowledge is provided from 28 airline industry executives around the world together with a method based on fuzzy cognitive maps that allows modeling and simulating value creation in airlines through 26 value repositories and 77 interdependencies. For practitioners, the article raises awareness of the need to incorporate a complexity mindset into value creation analysis and smooths the transition towards a value performance management tool.

September, 2020

In times of uncertainty like the present, value creation is a critical factor that determines air... more In times of uncertainty like the present, value creation is a critical factor that determines airlines’ competitive capacity and their ability to survive. Understanding the value creation process in a more realistic way and facilitating a tool that helps managers to anticipate performance under simulated scenarios is the objective of this article. A Delphi survey of 28 executives from major airlines around the world was conducted that procured the knowledge for the so-called Airline Value Creation Network (AVCN), an operational analytical framework presented in this article along with its benefits and limitations. Implications for researchers and managers are discussed. For researchers, novel data and methodological inroads are offered that address the creation of value as a complex adaptive system. The use of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for modeling and simulation proves to be a viable computational method in this context. For managers, the research reveals key empirical evidence of reality that explains the creation of value as a network and provides an easy-to-use, fast-to-grow tool that can help inform airlines' value creation policies and decision-making.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

This is the "Summary Report" of the homonymous research project that had a dual purpose... more This is the "Summary Report" of the homonymous research project that had a dual purpose: 1) to offer executives and decision-makers a broad picture of the external variables and structural components that shape network airlines’ engine for value creation, and 2) to address the question: what actions could be more appropriate to increase value creation in airlines and to stay competitive. The goal pursued by this research project was therefore of a practical nature, with a particular focus in providing new ideas that support management teams in their process of improving value creation and anticipating performance.

Journal of Creating Value, 2021

Journal of Creating Value, 2021

Creating superior value for customers is a critical task for tourism organizations anywhere in th... more Creating superior value for customers is a critical task for tourism organizations anywhere in the world, especially those committed to recovering as quickly as possible from the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and emerge stronger in the new normal. However, despite the importance of having a plan to create value in the coming years, the mechanisms that are involved from within and outside tourism organizations remain fuzzy and, in most cases, are subject to heuristics and trial and error. The above highlights the complexity of the phenomenon of value creation itself—greatly influenced by the ever-increasing and varied number of agents that play a role in the tourism ecosystem—the powerful technologies that connect them, and customers who prioritize continuous innovation and higher quality of service. In this context, the rapid advances made in data science and the popularization of the tools that support it, to name just a few, are proving a life jacket for many tourism o...

Journal of Creating Value

Hospitality and tourism firms are suffering more than others the devastating effects of the COVID... more Hospitality and tourism firms are suffering more than others the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its recovery will require designing and implementing innovative value creation strategies that are hard to imagine with the simplifying cause-and-effect analytical frameworks so widespread today. Building on the narrative of the firm as a open complex adaptive system and the literature reviewed in economics and management, this article approaches value creation from the paradigm of complexity science and provides a conceptual bases that would allow value practitioners incorporate more realistic and holistic elements to its analysis. Several implications are outlined that could result from the adoption of this perspective and that might encourage a change in the mindset of scholars and firms’ managers. Guidelines for deeper exploration of value creation from complexity are also provided that could open new avenues for theoretical and methodological advance.

Journal of Creating Value

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Soci... more Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) has led a paradigm shift in the way social scientists understand and manipulate complex systems. However, little is known about the relationship between the two and how they can create meaningful synergies. A review of the evidence available on the connection agile-ABSS was conducted. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the value and limitations that can be derived from the connection. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common researc...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Understanding the behavior of the firm continues to be one of the key challenges of economic theo... more Understanding the behavior of the firm continues to be one of the key challenges of economic theory today, yet it remains elusive. Few other problems in the history of economics has persuaded the interest of so many economists, sociologists, psychologists, mathematicians, and even philosophers, as the endeavor to describe and somehow predict the behavior of the firm. However, a conspicuously lack of progress in terms of theoretical and practical outcomes shows that our theories are wrong or incomplete. In this paper the author highlights one key reason is that we fail to understand what complexity entails for the economic system and the firm, and suggests the need for an entirely new theoretical and methodological view of the firm based on complexity thinking. The evidence provided and the characterization made of the firm as a complex system are the prelude to a method to tackle complexity. The complexity-based view of the firm has strong implications for figuring out how to think about complexity of the firm, draft reality-bounded theories, and set the grounds for further research.

Journal of Creating Value

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Soci... more Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) has led a paradigm shift in the way social scientists understand and manipulate complex systems. However, little is known about the relationship between the two and how they can create meaningful synergies. A review of the evidence available on the connection agile-ABSS was conducted. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the value and limitations that can be derived from the connection. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common researc...

Journal of Creating Value, 2020

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Soci... more Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) has led a paradigm shift in the way social scientists understand and manipulate complex systems. However, little is known about the relationship between the two and how they can create meaningful synergies. A review of the evidence available on the connection agile-ABSS was conducted. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the value and limitations that can be derived from the connection. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common research agenda.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Developing a methodological framework which enables researchers and practitioners to tackle compl... more Developing a methodological framework which enables researchers and practitioners to tackle complexity in a practical way is key for the successful implementation of the complexity-based view of the firm. This paper seeks to provide a first attempt towards the development of such framework, specifically unravelling the activities, method and tools of its first and foremost stage: the mapping of complexity. The guidelines outlined in the paper will allow complexity practitioners to set solid foundations for a thorough understanding of the firm's complexity defining characteristics and how they operate, which constitutes an essential step for satisfactorily starting to address the challenges posed by complexity.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

There is not the slightest guarantee that scholars today are more capable to explain the behavior... more There is not the slightest guarantee that scholars today are more capable to explain the behavior of the firm than were 80 years ago, much less to predict how a particular firm behaves under real-world circumstances. In fact, most of the current theories of the firm fail to explain and predict the real behavior of the firm, and provide scarce practical guidance to managers. An important factor behind this fact is the conspicuous lack of consideration given to the study of the "environment" of the firm, both from a theoretical and methodological perspective. This paper stresses the need to carry out a reformulation of "classical" theories of the firm in the light of an open complex system approach, and implement renewed scientific tools to bring the theory closer to reality. The paper provides a tentative characterization of the next generation of theories of the firm and highlights the steps needed to get oriented in the right direction. The opportunities for keeping the theory of the firm relevant and achieve more fruitful results when it most needed, are enormous.

This is the "Summary Report" of the homonymous research project that had a dual purpose: 1) to of... more This is the "Summary Report" of the homonymous research project that had a dual purpose: 1) to offer executives and decision-makers a broad picture of the external variables and structural components that shape network airlines’ engine for value creation, and 2) to address the question: what actions could be more appropriate to increase value creation in airlines and to stay competitive. The goal pursued by this research project was therefore of a practical nature, with a particular focus in providing new ideas that support management teams in their process of improving value creation and anticipating performance.

Understanding the behavior of the firm continues to be one of the key challenges of economic theo... more Understanding the behavior of the firm continues to be one of the key challenges of economic theory today, yet it remains elusive. Few other problems in the history of economics has persuaded the interest of so many economists, sociologists, psychologists, mathematicians, and even philosophers, as the endeavor to describe and somehow predict the behavior of the firm. However, a conspicuously lack of progress in terms of theoretical and practical outcomes shows that our theories are wrong or incomplete. In this paper the author highlights one key reason is that we fail to understand what complexity entails for the economic system and the firm, and suggests the need for an entirely new theoretical and methodological view of the firm based on complexity thinking. The evidence provided and the characterization made of the firm as a complex system are the prelude to a method to tackle complexity. The complexity-based view of the firm has strong implications for figuring out how to think about complexity of the firm, draft reality-bounded theories, and set the grounds for further research.

Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. However, the Age... more Agile software development is having a profound impact on the software industry. However, the Agent-Based Social Simulation (ABSS) community has not kept the same pace with the growing interest in agile methods. A review of the evidence available on the relation between agile and ABSS was conducted, with 649 studies identified through a search strategy, of which 11 were considered relevant references. The studies were grouped into three themes: conceptual applications, surveys/literature reviews, and case studies. The review investigates what is currently known about agile adoption by ABSS and the benefits and limitations that can be derived from the relationship. Implications for researchers and practitioners are presented. The main implication for researchers is the need to implement agile methods in a greater number of ABSS projects, on which to support further research and experimentation. For practitioners, the review raises awareness on the topic and reveals that there is a long road ahead of challenges and opportunities for those willing to unlock value from ABSS. For both, it would be highly beneficial if they joined forces and agreed on a common research agenda.

ENTER 2021 Conference, 2021

Digital transformation (DT) is facilitating new spaces for the creation and delivery of tourism s... more Digital transformation (DT) is facilitating new spaces for the creation and delivery of tourism services around the world. Through DT, organizations are learning innovative ways to engage customers, employees, and partners, improving their operational efficiency, and creating value in more sustainable ways. However, despite the growing importance of DT for tourism organizations, not all of them are familiar with the idea, nor are they undertaking the necessary changes alike: some are seizing the opportunity, while others are struggling to cope with the necessary changes.

AIRSI 2020 Conference, 2020