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1 – 10 of 76Jing Yang, Jing Zhang and Deming Zeng
The environment in high-tech industries is highly dynamic, and after COVID-19, it has become even more unpredictable. Hence, it has become critical for firms to develop strategies…
Abstract
Purpose
The environment in high-tech industries is highly dynamic, and after COVID-19, it has become even more unpredictable. Hence, it has become critical for firms to develop strategies to cope with a highly dynamic environment. This paper aims to analyze how the impact of the scientific collaboration networks with URIs (universities and research institutes) on firm innovation performance is contingent on technological and market dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 174 Chinese firms in the new-energy vehicle industry during 2004–2015, the authors applied a random-effects negative binomial modeling approach to model these relationships.
Findings
A broad and strong scientific collaboration network promotes firm innovation network effects are contingent on technological and market dynamics. While technological dynamics strengthen the effect market dynamics weaken it due to the different purposes of collaboration for firms and URIs.
Practical implications
Firms should adjust the structure of scientific collaboration networks with URIs when facing different environments. The government should encourage firms to jointly research with diverse URIs and play an active role in stabilizing market environments.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the academic debate on university-industry scientific collaborations. Applying the temporary competitive advantage (TCA) framework, we provide nuances to the literature that studies the factors that condition the effects of networks. This study also adds to the research on firm scientific collaboration networks by measuring networks based on the coauthorship between firms and URIs.
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Zhen Luo, Julie Callaert, Deming Zeng and Bart Van Looy
Shifting focus from innovation quantity to innovation quality becomes a priority in innovation study, business and policy. This paper aims to figure out whether and how knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
Shifting focus from innovation quantity to innovation quality becomes a priority in innovation study, business and policy. This paper aims to figure out whether and how knowledge recombination (recombinant exploration/recombinant exploitation) affects firms' innovation quality (technological value/economic value) and how these relationships are moderated by environmental turbulence (technological turbulence/market turbulence) in the context of open innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
A panel data set is built on 373 Chinese pharmaceutical firms' patents and new product data from 1997 to 2020. And a negative binomial regression model is applied to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The analyses indicate that (1) recombinant exploration favors technological value but hinders economic value, while (2) recombinant exploitation benefits both. Regarding environmental turbulence's moderating effects, (3) technological turbulence has opposite moderating effects on the impacts of recombinant exploration versus exploitation on technological value, whereas (4) market turbulence benefits the impacts of both on economic value.
Practical implications
This research provides the answer to practitioners' question that “How to improve innovation quality?” That is “Think from a recombination logic, clarify your internal value preference and the external turbulence.”
Originality/value
From an emerging perspective of innovation, this research expands the innovation quality research to a recombination logic. A multi-dimensional research framework is developed to clarify the complex relationships between knowledge recombination and innovation quality. Finally, two moderators, technological versus market turbulence, formulate more targeted implications for firms' innovation management in open innovation.
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Luyun Xu, Xin Yin, Hong Gong and Deming Zeng
A firm's inventions provide technical information for product planning and technical support for new product development (NPD). In the knowledge-based theory, inventing is…
Abstract
Purpose
A firm's inventions provide technical information for product planning and technical support for new product development (NPD). In the knowledge-based theory, inventing is regarded as a process of knowledge combination. This paper aims to classify the firm's inventive capabilities based on the combinatorial view and investigate the effects of inventive capabilities on NPD performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Four types of inventive capabilities are identified concerned with the knowledge used to combine in the inventive activities. By utilizing a dataset of 572 firms from China's automotive manufacturing industry, the roles of different inventive activities in the generation of new inventions are compared. Then the effects of different inventive capabilities on NPD performance are empirically examined by using negative binomial regression analysis.
Findings
The time series for the number of patented inventions derived from different types of combinations generally exhibits a steady upward trend, and the number of patents derived from recombination is much higher. The empirical results demonstrate that the inventive capabilities associated with reused recombination and creative recombination exhibit positive effects on NPD performance, and the inventive capabilities associated with novel combination and original combination exhibit non-linear effects on NPD performance.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to NPD literature by investigating the effects of different inventive capabilities on NPD performance. This study also provides guidelines for manufacturing managers to improve NPD performance by building appropriate inventive capabilities.
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Zhang Yunsheng, Zeng Deming, Zhang Lifei and Lucy Yang Lu
With the clarification of three effective methods (share holding, decision participation and promotion of technical grade) to govern R&D teams in software enterprises, the purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
With the clarification of three effective methods (share holding, decision participation and promotion of technical grade) to govern R&D teams in software enterprises, the purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical investigation of the application of these methods in Chinese software enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a quantitative approach with 34 items designed in the questionnaire to measure the indicators. All items were rated by respondents on a five‐point Likert‐type scale. In order to testify the validity of the three methods of R&D team governance, a correlation analysis and a linear regression were made to examine the relationship between these methods of R&D team governance and R&D performance.
Findings
The evidence shows that decision participation and promotion of technical grades are the two most effective methods to govern R&D teams in Chinese software enterprises, while share holding is not conducive to R&D performance. The share holding level of R&D staffs is fairly low; even “no share.” What is more important is that many software enterprises regard it as a welfare institution but not an incentive method. Therefore, the shareholding mechanism cannot enhance R&D performance. In addition, relevant regulations have not been established completely. There are many deficiencies in the process of intellectual property management of Chinese enterprises. These factors have hindered the effective performance of R&D staff.
Practical implications
The research findings emphasize the importance of governance of R&D teams in the Chinese software industry and highlight the critical issues that need to be addressed in order to enhance the performance of R&D staff.
Originality/value
The concept of R&D team governance is examined and elaborated within the context of China, which points to the need of developing new direction of R&D team management.
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Liqin Ren, Deming Zeng and Koos Krabbendam
The purpose of this paper is to report a recent technological innovation investigation to the Chinese enterprises with different ownerships. The goal of this research is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report a recent technological innovation investigation to the Chinese enterprises with different ownerships. The goal of this research is to discuss whether there are innovation mechanisms in place, and to test the influence of the innovation mechanisms and the government policies to the Chinese enterprises' innovation performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The investigation and analyses are based on a survey to the firms (n=42) from different sectors in central China, for which a research framework and analytical model of firm‐level innovation in China was developed.
Findings
The paper finds that the innovation mechanisms in the Chinese firms are to a certain extent in place, and the market factor has become the driving force for the enterprises' innovation. By using the pooled‐variance t‐test for comparing means, the authors further tested that innovation mechanisms and the government innovation policies have positive influences on the innovation performance of the Chinese enterprises.
Originality/value
The first‐hand technological innovation situation of the Chinese firms are evaluated by the relevant firm leaders (insiders) and analyzed by a Western research team (outsiders), which is of great significance to the Western academic and practitioners.
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Yejing Wang, Deming Zeng, C. Anthony Di Benedetto and Michael Song
Recent studies have conceptualized market orientation into two distinct components, responsive and proactive market orientation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent studies have conceptualized market orientation into two distinct components, responsive and proactive market orientation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the environmental antecedents that lead to the adoption of a responsive or proactive market orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon the market orientation literatures, and using theory derived from environment strategy research as a starting point, a conceptual model is developed in which environmental factors are antecedent variables influencing the responsive and proactive market orientation. To test the conceptual model, data were collected from 308 companies across a wide range of industries.
Findings
The results show that responsive market orientation is positively related to market turbulence, technological turbulence and competitive intensity. On the contrary, proactive market orientation is negatively related to market turbulence, technological turbulence, and competitive intensity.
Originality/value
The paper makes a theoretical contribution in that it extends the market orientation literature and examines what environmental antecedents affect responsive and proactive market orientation. The paper also makes some managerial recommendations.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Collaborations between companies and universities and research institutions can be a powerful tool in dealing with the exponential growth of technology and its development. Yet they are not always a positive benefit for a desired outcome, and must be adjusted where necessary based on the dynamics of either the technology or the market.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Oksana Koval, Stephen Nabareseh, Felicita Chromjakova and Robert Marciniak
To achieve higher customer satisfaction (CS), companies implement continuous improvement (CI) programs, regardless of the growing evidence of their failure to achieve declared…
Abstract
Purpose
To achieve higher customer satisfaction (CS), companies implement continuous improvement (CI) programs, regardless of the growing evidence of their failure to achieve declared goals. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify whether companies are able to improve CS through the application of CI; and, second, to identify what organizational practices are able to facilitate the impact of CI on CS.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the developed assumptions, the study uses the structural equation modeling technique. The data for analysis were collected from 304 service companies via a custom web-survey.
Findings
The research confirms the direct positive impact of CI on CS. Further, the study demonstrates that management commitment and rewards system that encourages employees to participate in CI play the major facilitating role in improving CS through CI. These practices accompanied by quality-oriented culture and employee training in the improvement tools provide necessary infrastructure to sustain CI in the companies over time. Additionally, regardless of the vital role of goal setting for CI established in previous research, the proposed study finds a limited ability of goal setting, as compared to other organizational practices, to facilitate CI–CS relationship.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the scarce field of research on CI implementation in the services environment. Further, the research assesses CS as a variable of interest, as opposite to the previous studies, considering CS as a part of the composite variable. The research assesses the impact of the training in CI methodology on the CI–CS relationship, while previous research focuses on the general, work-related training. The findings provide an important basis for further academic work in the area of quality management. The identified practices can serve as guidance for managers, implementing CI in their companies due to the high fit of the proposed model.
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Oksana Lentjušenkova and Inga Lapiņa
Nowadays, the aspects of the intellectual capital (IC) management have become important, valuing it as an integral part of the organisation. Researchers emphasise the strategic…
Abstract
Purpose
Nowadays, the aspects of the intellectual capital (IC) management have become important, valuing it as an integral part of the organisation. Researchers emphasise the strategic importance of IC management, particularly in the context of satisfying the stakeholders' interests and value creation. However, the existing studies reflect individual elements of IC management, not analysing them as a system which is a part of the organisational management system, and hence it is impossible to draw valid conclusions on the impact of IC on the organisation's performance. The aim of the paper is to describe an approach to the elaboration of the IC management strategy and its integration into the organisation's management system.
Design/methodology/approach
The developed approach is based on a holistic and systemic view of the organisation, where IC management is integrated into the organisation's management . This approach is based on the structure of IC developed by Lentjušenkova and Lapina (2016). In this structure, business processes are the IC component that unites the other three ones – human capital, technologies and intangible assets. The study has used induction and deduction, as well as analytical and synthetic qualitative research methods, including logical constructive and conceptual (concept) analysis.
Findings
Elaborating the organisational strategy by taking into account the stakeholder interests, the organisation is able to ensure sustainable development. Using the integrated management approach, IC management is integrated into the organisation's activities and joint operational strategy. In this case, IC management becomes an integral part of the organisation's activities functioning in conjunction with the other organisation's systems, and it is integrated into all ongoing business processes.
Research limitations/implications
The approach the authors have proposed to IC management could be adapted by small and medium-sized companies. Using it, companies do not need to create special functional units or division, because IC becomes an integral part of organisation's processes.
Originality/value
In previous studies, business processes were considered as one of the components of IC. In the study’s approach, business processes imply integration of IC into the overall organisation management system. As a framework for the proposed approach, the authors have used the Deming cycle “Plan-Do-Check-Act” that envisages dividing the development and implementation of the IC management and development strategy into four phases, with a clear allocation of tasks and a defined outcome for each individual phase. To use this approach, it is enough for organisations to conduct an analysis of processes and, depending on the strategic goals of the organisation, make additions related to managing IC.
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