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In this paper we look at patents as alternative to trade secrets. We disentangle the disclosure motive for patent protection from the traditional reward motive by adjusting the level of patent protection so as to make the innovator just indifferent between patenting and keeping the innovation secret. Thus, we keep the reward (expected profits) to the innovator fixed and focus on ex post efficiency. When duplication is not feasible and secrecy only entails the risk of public disclosure (a leakage), patents and secrets are perfect substitutes. Yet, a distinctive features of trade secret protection is that it allows for independent creation. The duplicative efforts to reproduce a concealed innovation make patents and secrets imperfect substitutes. If such duplicative efforts are actually exerted under secrecy, patents provide the pre-specified incentive to innovate at least social cost. If, however, the threat of duplication induces the innovator to preemptively license her trade secret, and such licensing agreements allow the innovator to appropriate all the saved duplication costs, then secrets can reward innovative activity more efficiently than patents. Thus, the issue of whether patents are socially preferable to secrets boils down to an assessment of the prevalence and the efficiency of trade secret licensing. The available empirical evidence suggests that licensing of trade secret information is limited and so hints at the superiority of patents.

Technological innovation is one of the strongest driving forces in the survival and growth of any organization, including textile and apparel industries. However, technological innovation inherits a wide array of risks due to the uncertainty involved in it. In-depth research reveals the existence of a significant relationship between innovation failures and the approach used to innovate, that is, the organization’s innovator type. However, quantitative evidence supporting this concern is still lacking. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to bridge the existing gap in the literature on effective management of technological innovation risk factors and the innovator type of textile and apparel industries.

The risk factors related to technological innovations are identified under different innovator types. Analytic network process (ANP) has been used to evaluate the contribution of risk factors according to the innovator type of the organization. Data was gathered through the literature review and structured and semi structured interviews with textile and apparel industry experts. The contribution of risk factors was determined through priorities, derived according to the ANP using Super Decision software.

Contribution of risk factors takes different values according to innovator type. This provides comprehensive knowledge on developing a risk management strategy according to the innovator type of the organization. Furthermore, this provides insight into the fact that a generalized risk management strategy will not be effective and sensible for all innovator types.

The findings provide a thorough understanding of developing a customized risk management strategy by determining the “most to least” criticality of risks based on the innovator type of the organization. Furthermore, findings can be used to adopt the most appropriate innovator type based on the organization’s key competencies. Moreover, this guides the organization in making the best use of internal resources during risk management. Furthermore, this provides insight into the risk factors that must be addressed prior to embarking on new innovative approaches.

Digital economic innovation is associated with risks. The lack of a platform's profitability weakens the operation's ability to sustain innovators and increases the possibility of the business' termination. Relevant data demonstrate a significant upward trend in the exit of Chinese innovators of the digital economy. The study aims to clarify the role of an effective government and effective market in the prevention and control of the withdrawal of innovators.

Based on balanced panel data of 31 provinces and cities from 2010 to 2018, this study uses the individual fixed effect model to study the impact of the marketization level, the market's scale and government interventions on the withdrawal of innovators. Simultaneously, based on the spatial econometric model, this study examines the spatial spillover effect of the withdrawal of innovators.

Results indicate that government interventions have an inhibiting effect on the withdrawal of innovators. Moreover, there was a positive “U”-shaped nonlinear relationship between the marketization level and the withdrawal of innovators, and an inverse “U”-shaped nonlinear relationship between the market size and the withdrawal of innovators.

The paper first studies the relationship between the exit of innovators and government intervention, marketization level and field scale; takes the lead in the research on the role of the government and effective market in the prevention and control of the exit of innovators from the perspective of the exit of innovators and puts forward policy suggestions to promote the sustainable and healthy development of fintech innovation in China from the market scale and other aspects.

In heterogeneously segmented markets, collaborating with product users in product innovation is important for business success. End user innovators and embedded user innovators differ in terms of their prior embeddedness in the target industry. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, the authors empirically compare these two types of user innovators in terms of their diffusion channel selection. Second, the authors analyze how the technological advances of their innovations affect this difference.

Using an online questionnaire survey, this study collected a sample of 237 user-generated innovations in Japan and analyzed several hypotheses using quantitative statistical approaches.

The analysis shows that embedded user innovators are more likely than end user innovators to transfer their innovations to producers rather than peers. As the technological advances of their innovations increase, end user innovators' likelihood of transferring their innovation to producers increases more significantly than that of embedded user innovators.

This is the first paper to investigate the difference between end user innovators and embedded user innovators with respect to their diffusion channel selection as well as the moderating role of technological advances. The findings bring new perspectives to the domains of user–producer collaboration and technology transfer.

This article reports the findings from a survey on wine use and related consumer characteristics from 271 adult US consumers. A valid and reliable self‐report scale was used to measure wine innovativeness. Multi‐item scales also measured level of wine consumption, wine involvement, opinion leadership for wine, and real and subjective wine knowledge. As hypothesised, wine innovators reported using more wine than non‐innovators. They were also found to score higher on measures of wine involvement, wine opinion leadership, and subjective wine knowledge than those consumers less likely to be wine innovators. This pattern of characteristics is similar to that found for innovative consumers of other product fields and provides insights into the characteristics of wine innovators that marketers can use to develop better strategies for innovative wine products.

The purpose of this paper is to provide new insights for managing knowledge reuse in terms of the duality of innovator personality. Continuously developing new products is crucial for firms to maintain and enhance their competitive advantages. However, the limited and highly specialized knowledge can cause innovators of firms to face difficulties in the process of new product development (NPD). In this setting, knowledge reuse becomes a solution that may benefit innovators to overcome the innovation dilemma. Given the fact that innovators with different personality are likely to form incongruent cognitions and affection on knowledge reuse, thus subsequently affecting the performance of NPD, there is an urgent need to investigate the effects of innovator personality in the entire process of knowledge reuse.

This paper exploits five-factor model (FFM) of personality to comprehensively investigate the dual effects of innovator personality in managing knowledge reuse based on the two distinct sets of knowledge reuse initiation and implementation.

By using the data from 981 innovators of knowledge-intensive firms in China, this study finds that the FFM traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness had opposing effects on initiation and implementation of knowledge reuse. While the FFM traits of emotional stability and openness to experience both positively affect the knowledge reuse initiation and implementation. Moreover, the FFM traits of extraversion benefit the shaping of knowledge reuse initiation whereas encumbering the implementation of knowledge reuse.

First, this study reveals the different roles of cognitive and affective traits of personality in shaping knowledge reuse. Second, this study exposes the role of innovator personality in determining the performance effects of knowledge reuse implementation. Third, this study highlights the dual effects of innovator personality in managing knowledge reuse. This study offers evidence for arranging the innovators with appropriate FFM traits in various stages of knowledge reuse.

As fashion innovators are the chief buyers of fashion at the introductory stage, they have significant influence on the product at the later stages. Building on this, this study attempts to achieve four main objectives. First, it provides a demographic profile of fashion innovators. Second, it identifies the differences in self‐concepts between innovators and non‐innovators. Third, it attempts to discover if innovators are impulse purchasers. Finally, it investigates if fashion innovators will purchase impulsively online from Internet stores. The results show that innovators were found to have a unique self‐image. They are more excitable, indulgent, contemporary, liberal and colourful. Compared to the results in Goldsmith et al.'s study, only two of the characteristics were found to be identical (contemporary and colourful). The differences in other self‐ascribed characteristics are excitable and indulgent (this study) and comfortable, pleasant and vain. The results also seem to suggest that innovativeness is related to marital status. Fashion innovators generally exhibit impulsive behaviour. They might be able to expand their scope of fashion knowledge through the Internet, not just merely through fashion magazines. However, the findings of this study showed that there is no difference between fashion innovators and non‐innovators in Internet purchase. Despite this finding, the Internet can still be used as an advertising tool to appeal to the innovators.

This paper aims to introduce a new phenomenon related to creative motivation called creative resolve response (CRR). CRR predicts how creative motivation will vary during problem solving.

In total, 66 MBA students were asked to respond at random intervals during different class problem‐solving activities. Participants were asked to rate on two preset scales their perceived certainty of solving the problem successfully and creativity level required. Mean creativity required responses were calculated for subgroups with different cognitive style ranges at each outcome certainty level. T‐tests were used to determine significant differences between various means.

The results suggest that creative motivation will vary systematically as a problem solver's perception of problem solving progress increases in a wax‐wane‐wax pattern.

Post hoc analysis suggested that potentially confounding effects related to problem heterogeneity, learning effects, environment, group interaction and interviewer response bias were not significant. However the relatively small sample size and limited scope of the problem activities suggests that further research is required to establish the extent to which the findings can be generalised.

CRR promises a new form of extrinsic control for managers to enhance creativity via extrinsic motivation. The author makes suggestions on how managers may enhance creativity by influencing employees to reconsider their perceived level of problem‐solving progress.

This paper links expectancy theory, cognitive style and creative motivation, and provides an alternative approach to trying directly to motivate employees to be more creative.

Earlier research on this topic focussed on the adoption of an innovation in isolation from other innovations. Analyzes the cumulative effects of earlier innovations on the adoption of future innovations in the same product class. It is proposed that innovators move through a series of stages, the innovator buying cycle, driven by an internal dynamic.

In the competitive global market, firms have to keep profit from innovation activities. A firm makes profits by offering products or services at a lower cost than its competitors or by offering differentiated products at premium prices that more than compensate for the extra cost of differentiation. The IC Package and Testing technology industries were the first high technological industry to build in Taiwan. The Package and Testing industries in Taiwan adopted competitive innovation activities to become stronger. In our study, we want to know how innovation activities influence a firm operating in the IC Package and Testing industries. Our study used a questionnaire and Likert five‐point scale to survey the innovation activities, customer and feedback in innovation performance in the IC Package and Testing industry. The wafer level chip size packing technology in our study indicates the innovation activities. Because we need to compare the difference between the wafer level chip size packing technology and wire bonding technology to recognize innovation and how the innovator and customer were influenced. Our conclusions are described below: (1) When the innovator adopts innovation activities that can be maintained using experiments and knowledge, using machine and decision variables more quickly will produce success; (2) Innovators should adopt innovation activities that focus on customers that use knowledge and experimentation, training time and cost. If an innovation forces customers to spend much time and cost to learn new technology or applications, the innovation will not be adopted; (3) Innovators that create innovation performance higher than his customers must also consider the impact upon their customers. We have to remind innovator to focus on why their customers have a different level of evolution in the same innovation activities.