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The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to understand recombinant innovation (RI) as a potentially significant part of an open innovation (OI) strategy and second, to suggest key routines which would underpin a capability for RI, locating these within the context of enhanced absorptive capacity (AC). Finally, the paper considers how such routines could be developed, drawing on some case examples.

The authors start with a literature review on OI and use the lens of AC to explore challenges in finding, assimilating and deploying external knowledge posed by the emerging knowledge-rich context of OI. The authors then explore one OI route – RI – and suggest a model framework for operationalizing it based on routines for search, acquisition, assimilation and deployment.

The authors suggest three sets of routines required for RI, around abstract-driven search (ADS), brokerage and cyclic adaptation. As with much of the now widely available toolkit for OI, the challenge is one of moving from potential to realized opportunity and this will require investments in learning and capability building.

The authors suggest that for organizations to enhance their AC around RI, three core routines are needed: ADS, brokerage and cyclic adaptation.

This paper focuses on the motivation of females to start businesses in developed and emerging economies. Although the issues related to the motivation of entrepreneurs have been widely studied, there are a few studies focusing on the differences in women’s entrepreneurial motivation in countries with different levels of market economy development. Furthermore, existing studies on female founders mainly adapt the concepts that have often been developed in male-dominated paradigm. The purpose of this paper is to explore in depth motivations of female entrepreneurs in different contexts and discover the dissimilarities in women’s entrepreneurial motivations in countries with different levels of economic development.

The qualitative research approach is applied in this study to explore the social-driven and profit-driven motives of female entrepreneurs. The authors have employed purposeful sampling to select cases. The authors investigated the motivations of 45 female entrepreneurs in Norway (12), Russia (21) and Ukraine (12). Semi-structured interviews were used to collect primary data. The authors have also triangulated the data collected from interviews with the data available on the internet, company reports and newspaper publications.

The findings indicate that women often pursuit business opportunities to satisfy social needs, rather than focusing on traditional business outcomes such as growth or profit. However, different contexts – the emerging economies context of Russia and Ukraine and the developed one of Norway – seem to influence the motivation to establish new ventures differently. The study found a stronger desire to contribute to a society’s needs among female founders in Norway compared to their counterparts in Russia and Ukraine. This indicates that cultural and social context in developed countries, such as in Norway, probably provides more possibilities for female entrepreneurs for self-realisation elsewhere leaving more room for focusing on societal issues in business in comparison with emerging countries contexts.

A novel conceptual contribution is the exploration of links between the social-driven and profit-driven motives of female entrepreneurs in emerging and developed economises. The study also adds to debates relating to context embeddedness of smaller firms.

The purpose of this paper is to describe seven case studies of university‐industry cooperative partnerships at Nizhny Novgorod Architecture and Civil Engineering State University in Russia. It examines the relationship between green technology and innovation in order to explore how green technologies are developed into successful eco‐innovations following the liberalisation policy which started in the 1990s in the Russian research and development (R&D) sector.

The research adopts a case‐study approach and conducts cross‐case comparative analyses in order to develop insights into the evolution of green technology projects in what was formerly a closed area (Gorky city) prior to the market reforms.

The technical empirical data included in the cases illustrate how eco‐innovations can arise incrementally from highly structured technical problem spaces, in contradiction with previously published literature which has tended to treat them as more creative and radical innovations arising from the design process. The paper proposes an emergent tentative taxonomy of eco‐innovations based on the findings of cross‐case analysis. Finally, the paper suggests a need to develop the aptitude of the various actors involved in such projects in order to successfully bring them to market.

While the findings are not necessarily generalisable to other regions, they suggest that the Russian context may require a more sophisticated, multi‐level analysis of the organisation and management of international manufacturing technology collaborations.

The paper presents seven original case studies of green R&D and describes an emergent taxonomy of eco‐innovations.

The purpose of this paper is to study bio‐safe technology – impact of rhizospheric bacteria Azotobacter and Bacillus within the composition of environmentally clean complex microbiological biofertilizer “BioWais” prepared on the basis of nitrogen‐, phospho‐ and silicon‐bacterin on physiological parameters of plants: growth, productivity, the role of rhizobacteria in plants resistance to biotic and abiotic factors.

The following contemporary methods of investigation of physiological parameters of biological objects: immunoenzyme analysis of phytohormones, method of combinatory light dissemination, determination of amino acid composition of grain proteins by ion‐exchange chromatography, spectrophotometric methods were used.

The positive impact of biofertilizer “BioWais” on plant growth and development, enhancement of resistance of bacterized plants to hypothermia and pathogenic infection, increase of carotid content were demonstrated.

The bacteria under study biopreparation were shown to act as plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria foster increase of plant anti‐oxidant protection, adaptation of seedlings to hypothermia, synthesize cytokinins and indolyl acetic acid.

Bacterial preparation increases quality and amount of agricultures yield, it may be recommended to treat seeds prior to planting with the view to stimulate germination, to enhance plants resistance to hypothermia and fungus‐induced diseases, for improvement of plant growth and development.

New, innovative, environmentally pure bacterial preparation BioWais showed significant efficiency for a number of agrocultures and may be used for acquisition of safe plant products of high quality (with high content of protein, essential amino acids and carotin, potential source of vitamin A, low content of nitrates).

This study aims to explore the experience of eight international companies, focusing on their strategies in sustainable innovations in China.

This investigation is accomplished using a case study methodology. The research is based on the companies' secondary data and 47 semi-structured face-to-face interviews carried out in Chinese (Mandarin) between September 2010 and March 2012. Access to the selected companies was supported by WWF China.

The findings of this study are summarised in a theoretical framework suggesting four different levels of multinational corporations' (MNCs') sustainability-driven innovations in China.

The paper is based on the research population of MNCs being WWF Climate Savers partners in China. The research sample has no Chinese-only companies.

From the academic perspective this research is a qualitative analysis of the best practices in sustainable innovation of MNCs in China and an attempt to map them to a theoretical framework. From a policy-making perspective, this paper is a report on existing practices and positive experience in responsible industry leadership. For practitioners this study shows how to create profitable growth in harmony with environmental sustainability and good corporate citizenship.

Gold clusters supported on oxide surface are most promising as active sites as biochemical sensors, in optical industry and catalysis, but there is no information about application of these nanoparticles in analytical chemistry for the chromatographical separation of organic compounds. Thus, the aim of this paper is the development of new separation systems based on gold nanoparticles.

The novel nanohybride system based on gold nanoparticles, cysteine and inorganic matrixes was synthesis. The results were obtained by the combined approach consisting quantum‐chemical calculations, direct organic synthesis and using chromatography investigation of obtained sorbent for separation of aminopyridines.

The structure optimization of cysteine‐gold cluster complexes reveals that adsorbed acid greatly changes the structure of gold nanoparticle and, consequently, changes its properties. The most bond energy is calculated for L‐form 82 kcal/mol. Material based on alumina, modified gold nanoparticle with L‐cysteine was synthesized and capacity coefficients for model compounds majoring by chromatography technique were obtained.

The developed sorbent that consists of alumina, gold nanoparticle and organic ligand (L‐cysteine) can used in analytical chemistry for the chromatographical separation of aminopyridine. The material has same advantages: simple sorbent synthesis, stability and repeatability in separation experimental. The presented novel nanohybride system is protected by Russian patent.

The paper presents a successful application of nanogold for analytical separation of organic compounds, new knowledge about properties of gold in nanosized region and information about bonding sulfur with nanocluster's surfaces, obtained by model physical‐chemistry methods.

This paper aims to examine the challenges experienced by Russian research and development (R&D) organisations in international technology collaboration in the global innovation arena.

A total of 33 Russian R&D organisations were selected from a sample of 138 potential participating organisations from the Central, Nord‐Western and Volga Federal Districts of Russia to take part in a qualitative interview study. Organisations were selected based on their responses to a questionnaire which measured the extent and nature of their experience in international technology collaborations. Participants were interviewed about their experiences of engaging in international technology collaboration under two different modes of collaboration: short term customer‐supplier relationships vs longer‐term strategic alliances. The semi‐structured interviews focused on 15 different issues which had been derived from the previously published literature on international technology collaboration and a thematic analysis was conducted on the resultant data.

The analysis indicates which of the issues reported as problematic in the literature were pertinent to the Russian organisations in the sample under each mode of collaboration. The findings also provide some evidence that Russian R&D organisations have made progress in the transition from the command to the market economy and are adjusting to the new environment, albeit gradually in some cases.

The paper presents interpretive, qualitative findings, which were analysed from a Russian perspective in three out of seven Federal Districts of Russia. The research sample does not include non‐Russian counterparts and the analysis is restricted to those variables which have previously been identified as exerting an influence over international technology collaborations.

The study reveals a broad range of insights into the types of issues which warrant close managerial attention from both Russian managers and their international partners in engaging in international technology collaborations with contemporary Russian R&D organisations.

The research suggests that different sets of challenges emerge for organisations engaged in different modes of international collaboration and provides insight into the unique context of Russia, challenging some of the previously published analyses of the influence of Russian business and managerial practices on the innovativeness of contemporary Russian organisations.

This paper studies female entrepreneurship in two post‐Soviet countries – Russia and Ukraine. Employing institutional theory, the research aims to investigate the entrepreneurial environment, particularly government support programmes and the availability of financial resources, with a focus on women entrepreneurs.

This research is a qualitative investigation that comprises 60 interviews with Russian and Ukrainian entrepreneurs, bank officers and representatives of government organisations supporting the development of entrepreneurship.

The investigation provides evidence that these countries have overcome the transition from a command to a market economy and local people are gradually adjusting to the new environment. Concentrating on macro/meso and money elements from the 5M model suggested by Brush et al., the authors suggest an additional construct – “motherland” – to embed a context in a new model.

Only two factors of Brush et al.'s 5M model were considered – i.e. macro/meso environment and money (availability of financial resources). Discussion of management, marketing and motherhood is beyond the scope of the present paper.

The study reveals a broad range of managerial information and empirical data on the development of female entrepreneurship in contemporary Russia and Ukraine. The findings are helpful for policymakers engaged with these two countries.

The study is an attempt to capture the context dependency of research on female entrepreneurs, and suggests a new dimension for inclusion in Brush et al.’s 5M model – “motherland”.