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1 – 10 of 684Bo Zou, Feng Guo and Michael Song
Although the extant innovation literature has extensively explored the attributes of different types of innovation capability, little is known yet about the common phenomenon of…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the extant innovation literature has extensively explored the attributes of different types of innovation capability, little is known yet about the common phenomenon of the rebound and durableness of innovation capability. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to address these aspects by introducing the concepts of elastic and plastic innovation capability.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the behavioral theory of the firm, the authors propose a theoretical model to study the antecedents and outcomes of elastic and plastic innovation capability. An empirical testing involves two data sets that contained 183 companies in three industries. The empirical evidence supports the existence of the concepts of elastic and plastic innovation capability.
Findings
The research findings also demonstrate that a firm’s past performance is positively related to elastic innovation capability. Elastic innovation capability and organizational aspiration are positively related to plastic innovation capability. Both elastic and plastic innovation capability significantly lead to superior performance.
Originality/value
This study makes three main contributions to the existing innovation literature. First, the authors extend existing knowledge on innovation capability by proposing two new types of innovation capability – elastic and plastic innovation capability. Second, the proposed concepts of elastic and plastic innovation capability contribute to the theory of dynamic capability. Finally, this study reveals the micro-mechanism of elastic and plastic innovation capability from the perspective of the behavior theory of the firm and their different effect on firm performance.
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This paper aims to reveal how different types of events and top management teams' (TMTs’) cognitive frames affect the generation of breakthrough innovations.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to reveal how different types of events and top management teams' (TMTs’) cognitive frames affect the generation of breakthrough innovations.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the event system theory and upper echelon theory, this study chose a Chinese manufacturing enterprise as the case firm and conducted an exploratory single-case study to unpack how breakthrough innovation generates over time.
Findings
By conducting the in-depth case analysis, the study revealed that firms do not produce breakthrough innovation in the catch-up stage and parallel-running stage but achieve it in the leading stage. It also indicated that when facing proactive events in the catch-up stage, TMTs often adopt a contracted lens, being manifested as consistency orientation, less elastic organizational identity and narrower competitive boundaries. In addition, they tend to adopt a contracted lens when facing reactive and proactive events in the parallel-running stage. In the face of reactive and proactive events in the leading stage, they are more inclined to adopt an expanded lens, being manifested as a coexistence orientation, more elastic organizational identity and wider competitive boundaries.
Originality/value
First, by untangling how TMT's cognitive frame functions in breakthrough innovations, this paper provides a micro-foundation for producing breakthrough innovations and deepens the understanding of upper echelon theory by considering the cognitive dimension of TMTs. Second, by teasing out several typical events experienced by the firm, this paper is the first attempt to reveal how events affect the generation of breakthrough innovation. Third, the work extends the application of the event system theory in technological innovation. It also provides insightful implications for promoting breakthrough innovations by considering the role of proactive and reactive events a firm experiences and TMT's perceptions.
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Andrea Patrucco, Christine Mary Harland, Davide Luzzini and Federico Frattini
Suppliers are essential partners in innovation projects, as they own resources, knowledge assets and capabilities that complement those of buying firms. In today’s competitive…
Abstract
Purpose
Suppliers are essential partners in innovation projects, as they own resources, knowledge assets and capabilities that complement those of buying firms. In today’s competitive environment, firms may choose to collaborate with suppliers beyond dyads, forming triadic or three-party relationships. Using the theoretical lens of the relational view (RV), this study aims to explore what type of triad configurations firms use to govern supplier relationships in collaborative innovation projects, how they choose to share resources and implications for project performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use interview data from buyers and suppliers in six case studies of firms involved in ten collaborative innovation projects. The four constructs of the RV are used to observe how firms govern triadic relationships, combine complementary resources, invest in relationship-specific assets and manage information and knowledge exchange with and between suppliers in innovation projects.
Findings
Four archetypes of triadic relationships in innovation projects – labeled Triangle, A-frame, D-Frame and Line – are presented and characterized in terms of their structural and relational features. The authors discuss how each triad archetype is applicable to different innovation projects according to specific project characteristics.
Originality/value
This study is pioneering in its empirical examination of triadic relationships in collaborative innovation projects. It provides a novel typology of four archetypes of triad from the perspective of collaborative relationships with suppliers. Through applying the RV, it advances understanding of how triadic relationships are governed, how they invest in relationship-specific assets, how they combine complementary resources and how they exchange knowledge and information in each type of triad appropriate to different innovation project settings. To date, much of the extant literature has focused on dyads.
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Noel Carroll and Markus Helfert
Open innovation is an emerging paradigm which exposes organisations to networked capabilities and competencies though collaboration relationships. The traditional view of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Open innovation is an emerging paradigm which exposes organisations to networked capabilities and competencies though collaboration relationships. The traditional view of the organisational environment raises concerns regarding the mismatch in the methods used to assess business value and understanding service process maturity. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs a systematic literature review to present a state-of-the-art literature review with particular focus on the applicability of capability maturity models (CMM) within an open innovation context.
Findings
The authors present a conceptual account of our research developments and build on the state-of-the-art which bridges open innovation and CMM. The authors provide a comprehensive discussion on the literature and challenge the applicability of individual organisations evolving through maturity stages. The authors identify a significant gap in the emergence of open innovation and CMM and present a service capability sourcing model (SCSM) to bridge these two research areas.
Practical implications
Unpacking the nature of service capabilities allows us to understand the primary components of value co-creation and their contribution towards service maturity within an open service innovation environment. The authors verify the explanation model using a cloud computing scenario within an open service innovation environment.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is an explanation model of an open service innovation environment through our SCSM. Though an open innovation perspective, the authors examine the nature of service capabilities and the suitability of traditional CMM in a modern service context.
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Examines the thirteenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects…
Abstract
Examines the thirteenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.
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Examines the twelfth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects…
Abstract
Examines the twelfth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.
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Audhesh K. Paswan, Francisco Guzmán and Zhi Pei
The fundamental question asked in this study is – should all firms engage in innovation and branding activities to the same extent to achieve their goals? The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
The fundamental question asked in this study is – should all firms engage in innovation and branding activities to the same extent to achieve their goals? The purpose of this paper is to answer this question, a strategic typology that integrates branding and innovation (BI) from an organizational ambidexterity perspective is proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds theory by proposing a typology. Integrating the literature on BI, organizational ambidexterity and resource/knowledge-based view of firms, this study posits that to create a value proposition, a firm could choose to engage in innovation and branding activities in a variety of ways depending on their dominant strategic orientation along two dimensions of ambidexterity.
Findings
The four proposed typical branding-innovation orientations are low innovation × low branding; low innovation × high branding; high innovation × low branding; and high innovation × high branding.
Practical implications
A firm should choose its dominant strategic orientation depending on conditions such as market, consumers, needs and demand and resources.
Originality/value
By framing the innovation-branding paradox within an organizational ambidexterity framework, the proposed typology helps integrate two complementary and yet conflicting organizational functions by shifting the focus from an operational to a strategic level.
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Laurence Viale, Stéphano Vacher and Jeanne Bessouat
In a context of ecological transition, this study aims to explore and understand what fosters the participation of purchasing departments and identify the drivers and difficulties…
Abstract
Purpose
In a context of ecological transition, this study aims to explore and understand what fosters the participation of purchasing departments and identify the drivers and difficulties encountered during the development of eco-innovation within firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a qualitative methodology that provides tools to study complex phenomena. In-depth interviews with highly knowledgeable respondents from multi-sectoral organisations enable us to explore the eco-innovation process within firms.
Findings
From the perspectives of resource-based theory and stakeholder theory, the study contributes to the literature by investigating firms’ internal resources and exploring further dimensions based on sustainable supply chain management and purchasing. Internal stakeholders (e.g. purchasing agents) and external stakeholders (e.g. suppliers) were identified with regard to the business eco-innovation activities of focal companies in relation to upstream stakeholders. The authors examine this complex phenomenon by raising certain intra- and inter-organisational factors, as well as more individual aspects, such as the sensitivity of the purchasing manager to ecological transition. Purchasing agents are involved in increasing the propensity of organisations to eco-innovate and, as internal stakeholders, appear to be influential in eco-innovation.
Research limitations/implications
Given the nascent state of eco-innovation practice and accessibility to primary data about ongoing efforts, this research could not consider all possible drivers.
Practical implications
This study presents an opportunity for purchasing managers to understand challenges more comprehensively to add value within the eco-innovation process. The results highlight recommendations for how best to undertake eco-innovation in upstream supply chains.
Originality/value
The study provides new insights into the constituent resources needed for purchasing participation during eco-innovation to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. This paper is an initial attempt at research in the area.
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Christoph F. Breidbach, Byron W. Keating and Chiehyeon Lim
The purpose of this paper is to delineate a research agenda to guide future service research investigating the digital transformation of financial service systems through Fintech…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to delineate a research agenda to guide future service research investigating the digital transformation of financial service systems through Fintech – disruptive innovations by new market entrants that challenge the position of mainstream financial institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
Rooted in the philosophical foundations of “use-inspired research,” this paper addresses the managerially and societally relevant phenomenon of Fintech by identifying, and responding to, the individual challenges and problems associated with the digital transformation of financial services. This is accomplished through a computational text-mining approach to analyze the corpus of 1,545 published practitioner articles associated with Fintech, identification of managerial challenges therein and subsequent delineation of a novel research agenda.
Findings
By connecting managerial challenges relating to Fintech with the service literature, this paper develops a use-inspired research agenda that provides scholarly and managerially relevant research directions (RDs). These pertain to the complexity of digital financial service systems (micro level), orchestration of value co-creation with Fintech (meso level), and the development of elastic infrastructures, models and markets (macro level).
Research limitations/implications
Fintech is an emerging phenomenon associated with the digital transformation of financial services. However, actual guidelines on how service research related to Fintech could be advanced from a theoretically as well as managerially relevant angle are unavailable to date. Here, the authors address this challenge and provide the field with 18 tangible RDs to advance service theory and practice.
Practical implications
The purpose of this paper is to guide future academic research addressing managerial challenges associated with Fintech and the digital transformation of financial service. Due to the explicit use-inspired nature of the work, the future research stemming from the agenda that the authors put forward here will be of benefit to decision makers and society more broadly.
Originality/value
This empirical research contributes to the discourse regarding the role of information and communication technologies in service in general, and the digital transformation on financial services in particular. The in-depth computational text-mining analysis is unbiased, replicable and provides the foundation for a use-inspired research agenda that is subsequently delineated.
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Abel Duarte Alonso and Ian Patrick Austin
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the associations between the resources of a Western Australian regional family firm exporting to Asia and innovation through the lens…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the associations between the resources of a Western Australian regional family firm exporting to Asia and innovation through the lens of the theory of innovation and the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth, un-structured telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted with five members of the firm, including the co-owner. A visit to the business facilities complemented the data collection process.
Findings
The importance of tangible and intangible resources, such as forward thinking or investments in technologies, human capital and research is clearly illustrated; these resources positively influence innovative practices. Associations between the findings and the theoretical frameworks were identified. For instance, the imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable attributes comply with the RBV of the firm, and the hypothesised four dimensions of innovation. Importantly, the significance of strategic partnering emerges as an extension of these attributes.
Originality/value
This study addresses some knowledge gaps, first, contributing to the body of research on family firms’ adoption of innovation. In addition, the study contributes to the literature on regional Western Australian family firms operating internationally. This state makes a significant contribution to Australia’s economy, and its close geographic proximity to various important consumer markets highlights future opportunities for family firms in international trade. Despite such potential, research on global family firms operating in this state has been almost non-existent.
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