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Organizations that decide to invest in innovation must define how this will be done: internally, externally or in a hybrid way, developing internal research and establishing partnerships with other agents of the innovation system. This paper aims to analyze whether the service companies’ intensity of openness and innovation efforts are related to their innovative and financial performances. Open innovation assumes that organizations should use external and internal resources as they develop new technologies.

The study used data from the survey of technological innovation (Pintec). As regards innovations, it was considered the commercial and operational innovation performances and the innovative novelty performance. As regards financial performance, it was considered the overall net sales per employee. The intensity of open innovation was measured by the combination of breadth and depth (diversity and importance of the interfaces). The innovative effort was measured by spending on innovation activities. Regressions were applied to evaluate a set of hypotheses.

The results indicate that companies with a greater orientation toward open innovation presented better scores. The results also lead to the conclusion that foreign firm ownership structure and being part of a corporate group were the factors that caused the greatest impact on financial performance in the service sector.

The study provides empirical data on the importance of open innovation in improving organizations' performance, especially the breadth of open innovation.

The study contributes to expanding the research field addressing the relationship between service innovation and performance.

Despite the relevance of innovation in entrepreneurship literature, empirical research on the innovation-performance relationship in start-ups is underdeveloped and shows controversial results. To bridge this gap, the aim of this paper is to investigate the role of innovativeness on new venture performance in the early stage of the life cycle.

Regression modelling and propensity score matching are used to reveal systematic differences in growth between innovative start-ups (ISUPs) and non-innovative start-ups. We use an ad hoc dataset obtained through merging the financial database AIDA with data from administrative sources (Italian Chambers of Commerce and the Italian Ministry for Economic Development).

The results show that differences in growth can be explained by the different levels of innovativeness in new ventures. Moreover, unlike in prior studies, the innovation inputs matter more than innovation outputs. Indeed, the results support the idea that innovation policies can contribute to maximising the potential of start-ups.

The findings provide suggestions for policy makers and entrepreneurs to help firms configure ex ante appropriate actions to support the growth of new ventures in the start-up stage.

This study is the first to use the new objective measure of start-up innovation, available from the Italian LD 221 register. Second, different types of innovation are investigated as antecedents of firm growth. Third, we employ propensity score matching, which favours revealing systematic differences in growth between ISUPs and non-innovative start-ups. Fourth, the results of our study are the first to offer evidence on the effectiveness of the new Italian sustaining ISUPs policy.

This study clarifies the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector by examining the effects and roles of empowering leadership, work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation. This study also explores the direct effect of empowering leadership on work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation, the influence of work group cohesiveness on individual learning orientation and the mediating roles of work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation.

Data were collected from an online survey of respondents working in a public sector organization. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and mediation analysis by the bootstrap method were used for the data analysis.

Empowering leadership and individual learning orientation had significant direct effects on individual innovative behaviour. Both empowering leadership and work group cohesiveness have significant direct effects on individual learning orientation. Empowering leadership was positively related to work group cohesiveness. The mediation analysis revealed that individual learning orientation mediates the relationships between empowering leadership and individual innovative behaviour and between work group cohesiveness and individual innovative behaviour.

The study focuses on three factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in a public sector organization.

This study offers new insights into the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector. The findings reveal the importance of using a balanced leadership style and encourage learning in the workplace for individual innovativeness by public leaders.

This study aims to verify the effectiveness and efficiency of corporate technology innovation activities.

This study empirically analyzes the effects of research and development (R&D) capability on patent and new product development achievements on innovation-type small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by using the “Report on Korean Innovation Survey 2010: Manufacturing Sector” data released by the Science and Technology Policy Institute.

The results of the study indicate that staffing of the concentration of R&D human resource team and efforts toward open innovation are essential factors for the creation of corporate performance.The number of persons of the concentration R&D team in particular makes up essential resources for patent acquisition and new product development. In addition, in case of an SME’s with relatively poor resources, it is necessary to acquire resources, both material and immaterial, learn from the external R&D activities and internalize those into key corporate capabilities rather than step up the R&D activities on their own.

The results of this study indicate that innovative small enterprises need to secure the number of R&D human resource members for maintaining sustainable competitiveness and securing market share. Therefore, a strategy is needed that would enable employing and raising excellent human resource in the quantitative and qualitative aspects. However, in the circumstances that small enterprises suffer difficulty in securing professional human resource for R&D compared to large enterprises, as there is a limitation for securing human resource for R&D from only the dimension of enterprises, governmental and political support is thought to be necessary for securing good-quality human resource for R&D. Accordingly, the results of this study provide many implications for the necessity of detailed methodology on how to expand professional human resource for R&D among supporting policies for technical innovative enterprises and to establish innovative strategies of enterprises.

The paper aims to investigate the comfort-related performances of an innovative solar shading solution based on a new composite patented material that consists of a cement-based matrix coupled with a stretchable three-dimensional textile. The paper’s aim is, through a performance-based generative design approach, to develop a high-performance static shading system able to guarantee adequate daylit spaces, a connection with the outdoors and a glare-free environment in the view of a holistic and occupant-centric daylight assessment.

The paper describes the design and simulation process of a complex static shading system for digital manufacturing purposes. Initially, the optical material properties were characterized to calibrate radiance-based simulations. The developed models were then implemented in a multi-objective genetic optimization algorithm to improve the shading geometries, and their performance was assessed and compared with traditional external louvres and overhangs.

The system developed demonstrates, for a reference office space located in Milan (Italy), the potential of increasing useful daylight illuminance by 35% with a reduced glare of up to 70%–80% while providing better uniformity and connection with the outdoors as a result of a topological optimization of the shape and position of the openings.

The paper presents the innovative nature of a new composite material that, coupled with the proposed performance-based optimization process, enables the fabrication of optimized shading/cladding surfaces with complex geometries whose formability does not require ad hoc formworks, making the process fast and economic.

Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial firms (KIE) strongly rely on scientific and strategic research and development (R&D) capabilities to achieve higher performance levels. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to disentangle the effects of scientific capabilities and strategic R&D on KIE performance; and how the constituent elements of these dimensions can be configured to generate conditions for high performance.

The authors’ empirical setting involves companies that submitted projects to the Innovative Research in Small Businesses (PIPE) program in Brazil. The authors then run partial least square structural equation modeling to verify how scientific and strategic R&D capabilities influence the performance construct. Second, the authors apply fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify configurations that are equifinal in terms of generating superior performance.

Findings indicate a strong association between scientific capabilities and KIE performance. The configurational approach outlines the existence of multiple paths to success, but human capital stands as a core condition throughout estimations.

The authors’ assessment has implications for how KIE firms are managed according to their organizational profiles and trajectories. Also, it advances the authors’ comprehension on how entrepreneurship policies can better target these distinct profiles.

The authors’ analysis provides new evidence on the inherent complexity behind the generation of high performance in KIE when addressing their portfolios of knowledge-related capabilities. More than that, the authors were able to identify the existence of heterogeneous profiles that can equally lead to higher levels of performance.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between innovative climate, strategic orientation, work motivation, business performance and job performance.

Within the scope of the research, a survey was conducted with 400 engineers working in organizations operating within companies producing spare parts for automobile companies. IBM SPSS 25, IBM SPSS AMOS and LISREL programs were gradually used, and the data obtained were evaluated and analyzed.

The importance of strategic orientation and work motivation for organizations can be seen in the analysis results in terms of their positive effects.

In the production sector, where innovation and competition activities take place, not only strategic decisions but also motivation for employees must be realized within the organizational culture in order for the organizations to be successful. Strategic orientation is effective in achieving innovation and creation to the extent that employees are motivated.

In terms of successful performance, it is very important to manage companies with the right strategic understanding and to involve the employees. In order to realize the innovation climate and to be successful in performance criteria, motivation is considered a key factor, in particular for the automobile sector. Automobile companies are now turning to electric vehicle production using new generation technologies. However, they also attach importance to the use of smart technologies in cars. For this reason, the effects of strategic orientation and work motivation on performance and innovation are investigated in companies producing automobile spare parts.

Conditioning factors of the globalized world have created new requirements and opportunities in developing management models for organizations that englobe sustainability aspects, which presume substantial investments in innovation. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the relation between sustainable innovation practices and the performance of industrial companies.

This was a quantitative study and carried out by applying a research survey in Brazilian industrial companies.

The results showed that there are significantly positive associations between several variables related to sustainable innovation practices and company performance, being, therefore, possible to confirm the original proposed hypothesis.

The main limiting factors were theoretical choices, comprehension of the phenomenon through the perception of the respondents, and the number of companies in the sample, as little representation was found in the researched population. In this manner, the results cannot be applied to the universe of considered research, being restricted solely to the group of companies in the sample.

From the main contributions, it is possible to highlight, at a theoretical level, the joint approach to issues of sustainable innovation and performance, since there are few studies covering the impact of adopting innovation practices on company performance. At a practical level, understanding of how the behavior of Brazilian industrial companies contributes to the wide distribution of practices that may contribute to better business performance and generate competitive advantages.

At a social level, understanding of the benefits in adopting sustainable innovations practices favors the minimization of negative socio-environmental impacts.

By analyzing the themes of sustainable innovation and industrial performance, the present study may contribute to adopting business behavior that strategically and systemically integrates the objectives of sustainable innovation.

This study aims to explore the relationships between strategic improvisation, organizational culture and higher education institutions (HEIs) performance. The dynamic nature of today’s environment, increased population and demand and budget cuts have created a lot of pressure on HEIs around the world. Hence, the need for effective human resource capable of providing advanced policies for efficiency and sustainability of these institutions.

A total of 229 questionnaires were filled and returned by academic leaders from HEIs in Kano state, Nigeria. The study used partial least squares path modelling to test the hypotheses postulated.

The major findings indicate that both strategic improvisation and organizational culture dimensions have direct relationship with HEIs performance. However, only innovative culture moderates the relationship between strategic improvisation and HEIs, while bureaucratic culture and supportive culture fail to support the proposed hypothesis.

More studies are needed to further validate the impact of strategic improvisation (SI) on other public sector performance. Also, future studies should use longitudinal approach to establish at which stage SI has more impact on performance. Also, future studies should identify the difference that exists between units, department and faculty leaders, as some are more likely to engage in SI due to the nature of their specialization.

It is obvious that HEIs performance is not only limited to organizational factors but also individual characteristics such as ability to improvise. Hence, HEIs should consider SI ability during employment to ensure efficiency, performance and sustainability. Moreover, organizational culture of HEIs needs to be updated and to be more flexible in accommodating new initiatives or failure to encourage display of such ability.

Previous studies especially in the for profit sector have demonstrated the role of SI and organizational culture on performance. Thus, the present study is one of the early studies in the non-profit sector, specifically the HEIs. Moreover, the inconsistent result of the previous findings necessitates the study to test the moderating effect of organizational culture.

The purpose of this study is to investigate a new and innovative sandwich material evaluating its capability for use in space habitat structural components in deployable and foldable configurations. The main habitat requirements were considered in the preliminary design of a typical space outpost, proposing a preliminary architecture.

The stiffness properties of the innovative sandwich (MAdFlex ®) were evaluated using numerical and experimental investigations. Four-point bending tests were performed for complete sandwich characterization. Numerical FE simulations were performed using typical material properties and performance. The application to a space habitat main structure as a basic material has also been discussed and presented.

MAdFlex basic stiffness performances have been determined considering its double behavior: sufficiently stiff if loaded in a specific direction, flexible if loaded in the opposite direction and enhanced folding performance. Successful application to a typical space habitat confirms the validity and convenience of such a material in designing alternative structures.

The innovative material demonstrates wide potential for structural application and design in demanding space situations under operating conditions and in stored ones at launch.

Several simple deployable structural components can be designed and optimized both for the space environment and for the more traditional terrestrial applications.

Simplification in structural design can be derived from deployable low-weight items.

Innovative customized material in sandwich configuration has been proposed and investigated with the aim to demonstrate its potentiality and validity in alternative design architecture.