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The aim of this paper is to propose a novel reference framework that can be used to study how different kinds of innovation can result in better business performance and how external factors can influence both the firm’s capacity to innovate and innovation itself. The value of the framework is demonstrated as it is applied in an exploratory study of the perceptions of public policy makers and managers from two European regions – the Veneto Region in Italy and the East of England in the UK. Amongst other things, the data gathered suggest that managers are generally less convinced than public policy makers, that the innovativeness of a firm is affected by factors over which policy makers have some control. This finding poses the question “what, if any, role can public policy makers play in enhancing a company’s competitiveness by enabling it to become more innovative?”

This study aims to develop a better understanding of radical innovation performance and proposes a comprehensive and theoretical model of the barriers impeding radical innovation from the perspective of researchers working in research institutions in China. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to test the hypotheses regarding barriers to radical innovation and the model proposed in this research.

The data was collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with researchers from different research institutions across several cities in China. Next, the data was analyzed by deploying the structural equation modeling technique and calculating the statistical significance of correlations, regression and path coefficients among the latent variables.

The results indicated the major barriers impeding radical innovation in Chinese research institutes. Based on these findings, suggested policies, regulations and business models are put forward that can promote radical innovation in these institutes through increasing research freedom, enhancing organizational flexibility, attracting talented researchers and expanding research collaboration.

The research proposes a comprehensive and theoretical model of the barriers impeding radical innovation from the perspective of researchers working in research institutions in China.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the roles played by organizational learning (OL) and innovation in organizations immersed in the processes of adaptation and strategic fit in dynamic and turbulent environments. The authors analyze whether OL and innovation act as sources of strategic fit, and whether strategic fit positively affects performance.

The authors use data from a survey of a representative sample of 204 respondents from European firms active in high-technology sectors (response rate: 10.42 percent) and structural equation modeling (using the EQS 6.1 program) to undertake a transversal study.

The model confirms that OL and the capacity to innovate positively influence managers’ decisions to adapt their organizations to changes in dynamic environments. The achievement of strategic fit, in turn, improves organizational performance. The authors propose considering the innovation climate as a facilitator of new product and process development, although the innovation climate is not a direct antecedent of fit.

This study is limited by the fact that the analysis is cross-sectional and by the fact that all measures used are based on managers’ perceptions.

Managers should create and support an entrepreneurial culture that stresses continuous learning. They should also foster programs aimed at developing abilities, and promote the development of capabilities that facilitate acceptance of organizational change. Investments in building certain capabilities, such as OL and the capacity to innovate, are strategically justified, especially in turbulent environments.

This study is one of the first to investigate the complex interactions among OL, innovation, strategic fit, and performance. The results improve our understanding of the links between strategic fit and performance.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the concept of user development which consists of proactively transferring knowledge to potential users of IT innovations in order to increase the likelihood of innovation adoption and diffusion.

An exploratory approach was adopted using three case organizations representing different sectors. These organizations represent the public, the semi-government, and the private sectors.

The findings show that proactive knowledge transfer builds the requisite absorptive capacity of users to understand, adopt new and complex systems and technologies, and effectively integrate them into their organizations, hence increasing their likelihood of adopting such innovations. The findings also show that effective user development hinges on proper selection of potential users and on goals alignment between the innovating firm and the selected users.

The framework could be further refined through more diverse case studies from a broader range of companies. Survey-based investigations are also needed to operationalize the constructs and explore its effects on the performance of the innovating firm. In practice, innovation managers should be more proactive by recognizing the value of knowledge transfer when it comes to expanding and accelerating the adoption and diffusion of their innovations.

This paper illustrates the importance of proactive knowledge transfer, especially in situation that call for absorptive capacity building. This paper also opens new opportunities for innovation managers to sell their innovations faster and to a wider market, and perhaps even altering the trajectory of particular innovations.

Using a sample of some 300 small independent businesses, drawn from Central London, the paper examines how entrepreneurial behaviour affects business performance. It is argued that small businesses motivated by a desire to grow in terms of sales and/or employees and to survive in a dynamic and competitive environment need to be innovative. However, to what extent they will innovate successfully depends on their capacity to plan ahead, their capacity to innovate and their willingness to take risk. It is shown that entrepreneurial businesses are characterised by these competencies that allow them to innovate and thus develop and grow successfully. Not surprisingly, not all small businesses are equipped with these three competencies owing to their diverse array of strengths and weaknesses arising from the diversity in the managerial motives and aspirations of entrepreneurship. These results highlight the importance of the capacity to innovate and the capacity to plan ahead as strong predictors of small businesses’ performance.

The purpose of this paper is to study the external sources of knowledge that better exploit internal knowledge in order to innovate.

A balanced panel of 1,266 firms that respond to the Survey of Business Strategies for a five-year period was used, which represents a total of 6,330 observations.

The influence of the absorptive capacity on new products is significant, with an inverted U-shaped relationship. The interaction between external sources of knowledge and firm ' s absorptive capacity has a negative effect on innovation up to a certain level (substitution effect), after which that interaction improves the innovation of firms, displaying a complementary effect.

Firms with excess of internal sources of knowledge do not obtain better innovative results because overtime firms tend to inertia and need external sources of knowledge to obtain new knowledge. Firms must be conscious that the effect on innovation of using a strategy of external knowledge acquisition could be different depending on their internal knowledge base level. Thus, those firms that select their strategies to combine knowledge appropriately will have better results.

This paper reveals that the positive effect of internal sources of knowledge on innovation decline after it reaches a high level because those firms with strong absorptive capacity may enter a state of organizational inertia that reduces their innovation. This research enhances the importance of identifying each of the external knowledge sources likely to be used, since their influence on innovation differs depending on the level of internal knowledge. Finally, this study is based on panel data models, which allows us to control unobservable heterogeneity improving earlier studies that had to rely on cross-sectional data.

Absorptive capacity has been defined as an organization's ability to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it, and apply it to productive ends. This study aims to examine the type of organization culture that influences the capacity of hospital organizations to innovate by absorbing new technology and the importance of this absorptive capacity in information technology (IT) implementation success.

Based on previous research, this study proposes a measure of absorptive capacity that includes managerial IT knowledge and communication channels and tests its relationship to the level of success implementing new systems. A sample of 192 hospital administrators shared their opinions about their organizations culture, ability to absorb new technology, and the extent to which their latest IT implementation operational for at least one year has been a success.

The results show the importance of organization culture as an important factor in developing absorptive capacity, and the latter's influence in the implementation of new technologies.

The study provides insights into the types of activities that management should undertake in order to enhance absorptive hospital capacity.

Current conceptions of how to measure and manage intellectual capital (IC) suffer from a failure to take “social capital” rigorously into account. This is a shortcoming of current thinking in the IC arena. Of particular concern is the absence of “social innovation capital” (SIC) from the scope of leading IC schemes. SIC, the collective capacity of a firm to innovate, is arguably the most valuable form of IC because it underlies a firm’s fundamental capacity to learn, innovate, and adapt. Using one leading IC scheme as a basis for analysis (Skandia’s), the absence of social capital, and SIC in particular, is highlighted, along with a description of what Skandia’s taxonomy would look like if it were to take social capital fully into account. Finally, recommendations are offered on how managers can build and manage SIC, thereby enhancing their organizations’ capacities to learn, innovate, and adapt in the marketplace.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between digital competence and the capability to innovate in the service sector and examine if this relationship is mediated by human capital in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

Using a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 188 service sector professionals in the United Arab Emirates. Data were analyzed using partial least square-based structural equation modeling.

The findings of partial least square based structural equation modeling analysis indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between digital competence and the capacity to innovate in the service sector, which is partially mediated by human capital.

This study contributes to knowledge by offering an understanding of the relationship between digital competence and innovation capability, especially in uncertain situations. This study also notes the importance of human capital as a strategic resource for innovation.

This paper investigates organizational performance effects by using performance management (PM) practices (both quality and internal managerial practices) and the moderating effects of the organizational context (cultural aspects and government pressures) on this relationship.

Interrelationships are studied based on data collected by a unique survey administered to Portuguese government agencies. A combination of the economic theory (and the New Public Management [NPM] assumptions) with the institutional theory (inspired by the old institutional economy [OIE] and the new institutional sociology [NIS]) provides a plausibly adequate theoretical framework.

These support the hypothesis about the positive effects of PM practices use (both internal and quality-oriented practices) on organizational performance which validates economic and NPM assumptions. The regression results also show that performance would improve if PM practices were aligned with the organizational culture (at least partially). Looking at the moderating effects, the study finds that agencies more oriented to the use of internal management practices aligned with a citizen-centred approach would have improvements in internal performance, reinforcing OIE assumptions. In addition, findings confirm expectations about the insignificant impact on performance when agencies use PM practices under great government pressures (NIS in the isomorphism perspective).

The limitations appointed in the literature regarding the use of the survey method also apply to this study.

This paper innovates by the research on the interrelationships between the organizational context, the use of PM practices and the organizational performance. The use of different theories in a complementary way (economic and institutional theories) in the explanation of performance consequences provides new insights into the body of performance management in the public sector.