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This study assessed the relationship among market orientation, innovation attitude and firm's innovativeness in the context of agri-food micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in a developing country context.

Cross-sectional primary data was collected using structured questionnaires from a sample of 521 agro-food MSMEs in Uganda. Data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Results showed that interfunctional coordination influences both firm innovativeness and innovation attitude. On the other hand, competitor orientation does not influence innovation attitude, but negatively influences firm innovativeness, while customer orientation does not influence firm innovativeness, but positively influences innovation attitude. Results also confirm the positive influence of innovation attitude on firm innovativeness. These relationships vary by location, size of MSME, type of MSME.

The findings of study this imply that agri-food firms should focus on improving the internal coordination among departments so as to improve both attitude toward innovation and firm's innovativeness.

This study investigates market orientation and innovation in agro-food MSMEs in a development country.

In recent decades, higher education institutes (HEIs) have come under pressure to cooperate with society as a whole. This shift towards an increased focus on third mission and social innovation activities implies a substantial organizational change process for many HEIs, as they need to initiate both structural and cultural changes. This paper provides guidance for such change processes by examining the views and attitudes of academic and administrative staff, as well as students within the HEIs over a period in which the HEIs increase their focus on social innovation.

The study uses a longitudinal quantitative approach consisting of a survey of administrative and academic staff, as well as students at two German HEIs. The authors studied members’ attitudes towards third mission and social innovation activities (N = 3470).

Results suggest that the university members’ attitudes towards third mission and social innovation are positive but change to some extent over time. Different aspects shape the attitudes within the three groups (administrative staff, academic staff and students). Furthermore, attitudes vary among academic employees who are involved in the process and those who are not.

The findings provide useful information for university managers and anyone aiming to promote social innovation at HEIs.

The study examines how attitudes of university members change whenever social innovation takes place at HEIs. This study includes data on the participation and empowerment of all HEI members in view of the important role that HEIs can play as supporters of social innovation.

Several studies have investigated the factors affecting innovation in medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at different levels. However, research into the characteristics of the entrepreneur (individual level) in social economy enterprises (SEE), and the relationship to innovation is scarce. The purpose of this paper is to build upon previous innovation literature to analyse SEE innovativeness.

This paper empirically analyses data from 193 face-to-face interviews with the founder/owner/managing director of small (zero to nine employees) SEE in Andalucía, Spain. A semi-structured questionnaire was produced using the literature review. To ensure the reliability of the data collection and the consistency of the results, several researchers reviewed the codification and analysis of the answers. Quantitative analyses were performed on the data, including descriptive statistical analysis and multivariate analysis (factorial for innovativeness construct validation, multiple regression, cluster, and discriminant). The software SPSS IBM PASSW Statistics 18 was used.

Considering the individual factors, it was determined that a proactive attitude towards innovation and a degree-level education were positively related to SEE innovativeness and that these were the most significant factors considered. The identification of attitude towards innovation was perhaps not surprising; one might expect a relationship between proactiveness and innovativeness. Furthermore, this result is consistent with the positive impact exerted by entrepreneurial characteristics, such as entrepreneurial confidence and adaptability, or SME entrepreneurs’ proactive personality and prospector strategy orientation towards their firms’ innovation.

This study has a number of limitations. First, the study is an exploratory study of innovativeness in SEE in a limited geographical area. Second, the fact that the interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire limited the opportunities for obtaining more detailed information regarding the factors affecting innovativeness in SEE. Third, other variables may have been used as control variables, such as firm age. Sector was used as control variable and it was found as not significant. Fourth, other statistical analyses, such as hierarchical linear modelling, would benefit the results, as different levels of analysis would be considered simultaneously. Fifth, other components of entrepreneurial orientation would render the results more complete.

The research findings suggest that SEE would benefit from degree-level people with proactive attitudes towards innovation. Clearly, attitude and education are important aspects of the individual's mindset. This study demonstrates that the mind sets of the owners of SEE, in terms of both education and attitude, positively impact innovativeness. At least in SEE, degree-level entrepreneurs with positive attitudes towards innovation run more innovative firms. The challenge for regional policy makers is to look beyond the formal education system to promote innovation skills programmes for social and economic impact.

This paper contributes to the entrepreneurship and innovation literature by identifying the importance of developing individual-level skills as well as formal education in order to foster innovation in SEEs.

This paper aims to study the impact of Chief Executive Officer's (CEO's) personality traits on open innovation (OI) strategies and the mediating effect of innovation climate by mobilizing the upper echelons theory and the OI literature. In fact, CEO's role in OI promotion has been under-investigated in the literature especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and in developing economies.

Based on the structural equation modeling, a survey is scheduled by administrating a questionnaire within 178 CEOs in Tunisian high-tech sector. The relevance of the empirical evidences is to disclose human levers to the success of OI strategies in the Tunisian context as a developing country.

The results show the importance of CEO's entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and attitude in promoting innovation climate and so then OI strategies. The study offers a reading grid for managers of high-tech SMEs to better lead and identify key factors for OI adoption. Innovative climate is found to be a relevant driver of OI encompassing the key role of attitude and EO of top managers.

Results highlight the relevance of the recruitment of appropriate top managers with high levels of EO and with positive attitude toward OI in order to facilitate OI integration and to enhance SMEs' competitiveness. Entrepreneurially oriented CEOs should be required in order to overcome "Not Invented Here" and "Not Shared Here" syndromes, to support innovative climate and to encourage knowledge import and export in the Tunisian SMEs.

This paper sheds light on the micro-foundation of OI by emphasizing the relevance of human factors and namely EO and attitude of CEOs in OI issue. It provides conceptual and empirical clarification of the extent to which CEO's traits affect OI through innovative climate. This would value initiatives exploring key individual's characteristics influence on OI strategies within SMEs.

This research aims to analyse cognitive factors, innovation attributes and their influence on adoption of solar renewable energy technologies (RETs) for urban households in Mexico. It expands existing cognitive frameworks by including variables from diffusion of innovation theory.

On the basis of the data of 291 urban consumers and through the use of partial least squares (PLS), the proposed model was empirically tested. Finite mixture PLS method helped identify two market segments.

Findings suggest that beliefs about consequences of adopting RETs have significant influence in shaping consumer’s attitudes towards RETs which were found to be an accurate predictor of the behavioural intention to adopt these technologies. Regarding innovation attributes, the results show that for a solar heater to be adopted, it should be compatible with the social values of the consumer. Triability and relative advantage show little influence on attitude formation. Two market segments found differ on the basis of beliefs and attitudes.

The study was limited to analyse consumer responses to solar energy in residential urban settings.

Organizations wanting to increase their consumer base need to develop sound technological innovations with high levels of compatibility a low complexity.

The study combines diffusion of innovation theory with cognitive frameworks and finds that innovation attributes become strong predictors of intentions to adopt RETs.

This paper tries to examine attitude toward knowledge sharing (KS) for improving the innovation in medical services. So, this paper aims to analyze the influence of information technology (IT), staff, hospital cultures and patients and their families on the attitude toward KS and also examine the influence of attitude toward KS on innovation in medical services.

This paper presented a project plan that contains five research hypotheses, with attitude toward KS as a mediating construct. In this paper, Smart PLS 3.0 is implemented to study the calculation. The hypotheses are tested on data collected using structural equation modeling. Data was collected using questionnaires from a hospital in Iran. The statistical population of this research is unlimited. Through using the sample measurement method, the sample size for structural equations has come to be 384.

The results showed that all theories of the project are proved. Also, they indicated the importance of IT as an important factor in attitude toward KS and the latter's influence on the innovation in medical services. Furthermore, the attitude toward KS influences positively on innovation in medical services. As a general result, the managers of health organizations should empower employees to participate in decision-making and encourage them to resolve problems together and share medical information to promote innovation in medical services.

This research must be carefully defined and accepted because the study information had special restrictions. At first, a prejudice was created, because the sample was self-selected. Second, the participants were living in Iran. There were different cultures and lifestyles among countries. Third, this research sample consisted only of hospital staff and managers. Moreover, little empirical research has been conducted on this topic in Iran. Iran’s culture is considerably different from Western culture, and it is unknown whether the same questionnaire that is used in the Iran context can be used in the Western context. In further studies, this research could be extended to contain other psychosocial elements that permit KS in institutions and increase innovation.

The medical industry is knowledge-intensive, remains a competitive advantage and accumulates knowledge, and the hospitals are the main subject. The role of this research according to providing a functional-theoretical plan enables authorities and practitioners to access thoughts about efficient stimulation attitude toward KS on innovation in medical services in the health sector. Also, the findings of this study at the same time are implemented to study relations between knowledge-sharing elements such as enablers, processes and firm innovation capability.

Modern study design enables the relations between IT and other influential elements on attitude toward KS and innovation in medical services to be analyzed. This design determines the coexistence of the participation and contest relations among participants, which is not studied in past researches. From a management point of view, this research determined various elements essential to a successful attitude toward KS and investigated the usage of these elements for improving innovation in medical services.

As an application of self-service technology, automated parcel station (APS) is emerging as a logistics innovation to address the inefficiency and delivery failure in conventional home delivery. However, the long-term viability of APS depends on the consumers’ acceptance of such concept. In response, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a behavioural study on consumers’ adoption of self-collection service via APS.

By synthesising theoretical insights from the innovation diffusion literature and attitude theories, a conceptual model is developed and empirically validated. Perceived characteristics of APS are present to directly influence the consumers’ adoption intention, or indirectly through attitude. A total of 170 valid responses are collected from a survey conducted in Singapore and the data are analysed using structural equation modelling.

Consumers’ favourable attitude and perceived relative advantage of APS directly lead to stronger adoption intention. On the contrary, consumers’ perceptions on compatibility and trialability and on complexity indirectly influence their adoption intention via attitude, in a positive and in a negative way, respectively. Additionally, attitude is found to be the most influential factor contributing to consumers’ adoption intention.

The scope of this paper is limited to e-consumers’ initial adoption decision. Future research should examine the consumers’ adoption behaviour further down the innovation adoption process, such as continuance and commitment.

This research conceptualises and validates the consumers’ adoption behaviour of APS from a synthesised view of innovation diffusion and attitude theories, theoretically and empirically contributing to the field of study on logistics innovations from the consumers’ perspective.

By integrating the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, technology acceptance model (TAM), and social capital theory, the purpose of this paper is to: develop a model of consumer behavior and trial willingness toward nano-foods from product, consumer, and social perspectives; examine the effects of innovative features, consumer characteristics, and trust in authority on subjective perceptions (perceived trustworthiness and perceived benefit) as well as the social influence on attitudes toward nano-foods and trial willingness; examine the moderating role of product uncertainty on the relationship between these characteristics and subjective perceptions; and examine the effect of perceived benefit on perceived trustworthiness.

The results of the structural equation model (SEM), with nano-food knowledge data collected from 431 respondents, supported the research model and revealed the main effects hypothesized in this study and the moderating effect of product uncertainty. Simple slope analysis was further adopted to test the significant moderating effects.

The SEM results indicated that innovative characteristics (relative advantage, lack of observability, and novelty), consumer characteristics (perceived technology application), and social characteristics (trust in authority) affect perceived trustworthiness or perceived benefit. Social influence also has a direct effect on attitude toward nano-foods and trial willingness. Product uncertainty significantly moderates the relationship between characteristics (relative advantage and perceived technology application) and subjective perceptions (perceived trustworthiness and perceived benefit).

With increasing numbers and kinds of nanotechnology products now being developed and sold, it is important to go further to determine consumer perceptions and attitudes toward these. This study, thus, applied the DOI, TAM, and social capital theory to examine this issue. However, other theories might also be used to carry out research from other perspectives. This study should, thus, be seen as preliminary, and it is hoped that more works will discuss consumer attitudes toward nanotechnology products in the future.

When a new nano-food is introduced, the current study suggests that food manufacturers use the description on the package as a communicative tool. Detailing the advantages of nano-foods on food packages might be a useful way to enhance trial willingness and to reduce the fears and insecurities related to the use of nano-related products. In addition, if food manufacturers could cooperate with organizations or individuals seen as having some authority in this area (e.g. nanotechnology researchers) in order to disseminate accurate information about nanotechnology and related food products, this might be an effective way to increase sales and profits.

This is the first paper integrating the DOI, the social capital theory and the TAM to empirically investigate consumer willingness to try nano-food products.

This study explains and predicts smartwatch adoption trends among non-users of smartwatches based on theories of the diffusion of innovation and inertia. It explores the impact of satisfaction with the status-quo with traditional wristwatches, on attitudes toward smartwatches and intentions to adopt the technology.

The study used PLS-SEM to conduct a multi-group analysis considering high (HSQS) and low (LSQS) status-quo satisfaction groups. The multi-group analysis followed the MICOM procedure, and the software SmartPLS three was used to analyse the data.

The results suggest that attitudes of the LSQS group were more strongly impacted by perceived ease of use and trialability. Their attitude toward innovation also had a stronger effect on their adoption intention. For the HSQS group, social influence more strongly impacted adoption intention; this group also perceived the disruption associated with an innovation as greater than the LSQS group. Analysis using PLS-Predict indicated that both models have considerable predictive power.

Most scholarship on this subject has taken a positive view of the diffusion and adoption of smartwatches. This study considers smartwatches from positive and inhibitory perspectives. In the context of smartwatches, this is the first scholarly attempt at comparing levels of resistance to innovation adoption to consumer satisfaction with the status quo.

Innovation has attracted considerable interest in recent years in improving competitive advantage for both profit and nonprofit organizations. Service innovation offers the potential for substantially improving the performance, but performance gains are often obstructed by users' unwillingness to accept and use available systems. This research aims to use the concept of Reasoned Action Theory to further examine consumer attitudes toward service innovation and its antecedents.

By focus group discussion and literature review, a conceptual model with six postulated hypotheses is proposed. The Electronic Toll Collecting (ETC) system launched by the Taiwanese government is selected as the service innovation to test the model. A structured questionnaire is designed to collect field data. The structural equation model with LISREL VIII program is used to estimate the structural coefficients and to test the hypotheses.

The results show that perceived ease of use, perceived price fairness, risk averseness and satisfaction with existing service significantly influence consumer attitude, and then influence consumer's intention to adopt service innovation.

Before introducing a service innovation, the service provider must seriously consider the possible difficulties of usage and risk from the consumer's perspective.

Compared with product innovation, research focusing on service innovation is relatively scarce. Services have specific characteristics of intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability. Hence, the factors influencing the consumer adoption of service innovation may be different from those of product innovation.