Introduction to the Special Issue — Social Computing and Service Innovation: A Framework for Research

ABSTRACT

Recently, we more and more observe service innovations emerging from social interactions among a network of actors inside and outside of organizations. Social computing technologies are the main facilitators of social interactions, hence increasingly play a vital role in the service innovation. Yet, research on the role of social computing in service innovation lacks clear theoretical and empirical basis. This special issue was designed to stimulate research on the intersection of social computing and service innovation. In this paper, we outline a broad research framework in this regard, including the papers in this special issue and areas for future research.     

Organizational innovation,technological innovation,and export performance: The effects of innovation radicalness and extensiveness

This study focuses on the relevance of different types of innovation for firms’ export performance. Despite ample research on the innovation–performance relationship, previous studies have mainly focused on technological innovations, leaving the effects of organizational innovations relatively unexplored. Hypotheses on the relationship between organizational and technological innovations and firm export performance are tested by structural equation modelling using data from 218 Swedish export ventures. The results indicate that organizational innovation enhances export performance both directly and indirectly by sustaining technological innovation. Moreover, by fine-graining our analysis of the mediating role of technological innovation, according to its radicalness and extensiveness, for organizational innovation, we show how the latter enhances both the radicalness and extensiveness of technological innovation although, notably, only extensiveness is actually beneficial for export performance. This study helps alleviate the scarcity of research examining the links among different types of innovation in relation to export performance and contributes to international business and marketing literature by generating new evidence regarding the mechanisms through which organizational and technological innovations may improve export performance.     

Innovation and the Evolution of Industry Structure

Abstract

Great advances have been made in recent decades enriching the economic theory of innovation and in understanding the role innovation plays in the survival and success of businesses. Advances have also been made in theoretical and empirical research into the relationship between innovation and industry structure. In what follows I comment on these advances and point to areas in which more theoretical work might extend our understanding of the links between innovation and industry structure.     

Impact of international entry choices on the nature and type of innovation: Evidence from emerging economy firms from the Indian bio-pharmaceutical industry

As emerging economy multinational enterprises (EMNEs) enter foreign countries in search of new markets, seeking to expand their knowledge bases, research on the type and nature of innovation activity is needed to address the impact of EMNEs’ choices related to international expansion. Building on prior literature on entry mode and location choices, as well as on organizational learning, we argue that how and where an EMNE expands internationally will impact the nature of its innovation. We carry out empirical analysis on a sample of 167 Indian bio-pharmaceutical firms for the period from 1997–2017. Our findings suggest that greenfield ventures foster innovation in core technologies, while cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) foster innovation in non-core technologies. In addition, locating subsidiaries in high income countries encourages product innovations, while locating in low income countries encourages process innovations. Our findings contribute to the growing literature on differences in learning outcomes of EMNE internationalization.     

The effect of social networks structure on innovation performance: A review and directions for research

Research on growth of innovations introduced to the market has gradually shifted its focus from aggregate-level diffusion to exploring how growth is influenced by a given social network structure's characteristics. In this paper, we critically review this branch of literature. We argue that the growth of an innovation in a social network is shaped by the network's structure. Borrowing from the field of industrial organization in economics, which defines itself as the study of the effect of market structure on market performance, we describe this new wave of research on growth of innovations as the effect of social network structure on innovation performance. Hence, social network structural characteristics should be incorporated into research on new product growth as well as into managerial marketing decisions such as targeting and new product seeding.We review how social network structure influences innovations' market performance. Specifically, we discuss (1) a networks' global characteristics, namely average degree, degree distribution, clustering, and degree assortativity; (2) dyadic characteristics, or the relationships between pairs of network members, namely tie strength and embeddedness; (3) intrinsic individual characteristics, namely opinion leadership and susceptibility; and (4) location-based individual characteristics, namely the degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality of an individual network member.Overall, we find that growth is particularly effective in networks that demonstrate the “3 Cs”: cohesion (strong mutual influence among its members), connectedness (high number of ties), and conciseness (low redundancy). We identify gaps in current knowledge, discuss the implications on managerial decision making, and suggest topics for future research.     

The Influence of Communication Source and Mode on Consumer Adoption of Technological Innovations

Communication is the critical process of diffusion of technological innovations, yet there is little research in the consumer behavior literature investigating how communication affects consumers’ decision to adopt technological innovations. This paper examines the effects of communication source and modality on consumers’ adoption of technological innovations using the 1999 University of Michigan's Survey of Consumers data. Specifically, a typology of communication sources and modality is presented, and the respective and interrelated influences of source and mode on consumers’ adoption of electronic banking are examined. The results demonstrate that communication factors can serve as significant predictors of consumer adoption of technological innovations and that consumer preferences for communication source and modality vary for different segments of adopters. In addition, we find information gaps between consumer segments high and low in socioeconomic status. Finally, implications for the diffusion of technological innovations and future research directions are discussed.     

When innovation in education works: stimulating teachers' innovative work behaviour

The twenty‐first century labour market requires employees that proactively shape innovations and solve complex problems. Professionals in the education sector are expected to perform innovative behaviour that not only entails the generation, but also the realization and sustainable implementation of new ideas. In a sample of 458 employees in Dutch secondary and higher vocational education (abbreviated in Dutch to MBO and HBO, respectively), this study investigated the relation between environmental factors (namely task variety, management support and exposure to innovation) and Innovative Work Behaviour (IWB) across the different phases of the innovation process, including a sustainability phase. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that management support and exposure to innovations served as a predictor for all phases of IWB. Teachers with supportive managers and a high degree of exposure to innovations showed higher scores on innovative behaviour across all phases. Linear regressions revealed a significant relationship between task variety and IWB. In the hierarchical model, only management suport and exposure to innovations showed significant relations. Background characteristics, such as gender, age, tenure, number of working hours and type of education, for which we controlled during the analyses, played a role in how much IWB is displayed. It can be concluded that a work environment, in which employees are exposed to innovation and are supported is crucial. Additionally, in view of the role background characteristics play, it is recommended to select teachers with specific profiles for the different phases of the innovation process.     

The influence of innovation on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Based on a survey of 200 SMEs, this research investigated innovation’s influence on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Harare, Zimbabwe. The study found that SMEs were somewhat innovative. The performance of SMEs was found to somewhat increase over the period SMEs were innovating. Innovation was found to positively predict the performance of SMEs. Organizational innovation and product innovation positively predicted the performance of SMEs while marketing innovation and process innovation did not. The influence of innovation on enterprise performance varied from industry to industry. The research has implications for managers and future researchers.     

Small business,innovation, and entrepreneurship

The purpose of this special issue is to examine small businesses, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and show that, although these three concepts have their own specific literature and can be dealt with independently, they are closely related. From Schumpeter to the present, a stream of literature unites the concept of entrepreneurship with its ability to make new combinations of factors and corresponding innovations in processes and products; similarly, in a broad stream of literature, the most characteristic dimension of entrepreneurship is closely linked to small businesses. Small and large companies have different advantages and drawbacks with innovation, but small businesses provide the most conducive environment for entrepreneurship and innovation that are not necessarily sustained by the know-how and resources characteristic of large-scale production, but require commitment and close cooperation between company members. In this introduction, we show how the three topics converge in four articles dealing with micro-start-ups and innovation, institutional determinants of entrepreneurship, and determining factors in entrepreneurs’ individual characteristics.     

Innovation and survival of exporters: A contingency perspective

We challenge the traditional view that innovations always help exporters prosper in competitive international market, by developing and testing the premise that the relationship between innovation and export performance is contingent on some important firm-specific idiosyncrasies. With a large dataset of Chinese firms, the empirical results demonstrate that innovation could be detrimental to exporter survival. Such negative effect is more pronounced for firms that have weak profitability and high outstanding receivables, and also for those without foreign ownership. Nonetheless, we also observe a positive relationship between innovation and survival in highly profitable exporters. By identifying the negative rather than conventionally assumed positive effect of innovation, and the conditions under which innovation facilitates or impedes exporter survival, this paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between innovation and export in the context of emerging markets. Our findings have important implications for how managers develop innovation strategy to compete in the export market.     

New service development

The topic of new service development has been relatively neglected in the literature on innovation and new product development. This paper explores some of the similarities and differences between new product development and new service development. It outlines the typical stages of the new product development process and then suggests how new product development in service organisations may differ because of the characteristics of services like intangibility and inseparability.     

Research Trends of Marketing: A Bibliometric Study 1990–2017

Abstract

Interest in the role of marketing has grown in recent decades due to its impact in brand value, value creation for customers, profitability of customer base, and organizational results. The paper shows an overall view on marketing research to explore the development of research trends, showing the high-frequency keywords at different time periods. Using bibliometric methods, the research analyzes publications between 1990 and 2017 found in the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The paper shows the evolution of keywords to reveal emerging topics as demonstrated in the connections network which includes “advertising,” “consumer behavior,” “trust,” “innovation,” and “customer satisfaction.”     

Firm Size and Innovation in European Manufacturing

The paper investigates the differences between small, medium-sized and large firms regarding their performance in the introduction of new products and processes. After a review of the relevant literature, two models are proposed and tested in search for different business strategies and innovation inputs connected to product and process innovations. The empirical analysis uses innovation survey (CIS 2) data at the industry level for 22 manufacturing sectors, broken down in three firm size classes, for eight European countries. Special attention is devoted to tackling the issues of possible endogeneity of the regressors and of unobserved sectoral heterogeneity. The results – strengthening the findings of previous studies – show that product and process innovations, though having some complementarities, are associated to different innovative inputs and strategies pursued by firms. Systematic differences also emerge between the behaviour of large firms and SMEs.      

Strategic orientations,joint learning,and innovation generation in international customer-supplier relationships

While innovations generated by international supply channel relationships, as opposed to individual partners, are playing an increasingly important role in the success of all international supply chain partnerships, research on how international supply chain relationships cultivate the process of such innovation generation, particularly for contracting suppliers firms, remains scant. This study explores how supplier joint learning capability can play a role in developing both incremental and radical innovations. The empirical test, which used a sample of 204 Taiwanese executives in electronic suppliers, supports most of the hypotheses in the study. The results demonstrate that different strategic orientations can drive various types of innovation through different paths by the mediating effect of joint learning capability. Specifically, we find that long-term orientation influences only incremental innovation, whereas radical innovation is driven by electronic integration and proactive customer orientation by joint learning. Furthermore, environmental uncertainties such as technological uncertainty and demand uncertainty are found to be moderating the impacts of joint learning capability on radical innovations. Some implications of the results are discussed at the end.     

Competitive Arena Mapping: Market Innovation Using Morphological Analysis in Business Markets

Purpose: The authors argue that (1) marketing strategy should focus more on where to compete (rather than on how to compete); (2) making subjective market definitions or market innovations may be the key to growth; and (3) a starting point for business marketers wishing to outgrow their competitors is to increase the granularity of market definition to identify competitive arenas that are growing. The authors illustrate the use of morphological analysis for competitive arena mapping in a market definition and innovation context.

Methodology: Using action research, involving a group of twleve firms of various sizes from different industries over a period of three-and-a-half years, we applied morphological analysis in a competitive arena mapping procedure, which enables firms to systematically plot possible competitive arenas and use managerial judgment to select those which are growing and for which the firm has exploitation capabilities.

Findings: Competitive arena mapping allows firms to identify and investigate a large set of possible competitive arena configurations. The developed mapping method has certain characteristics: (1) it specifically focuses on the market boundaries and adjacencies, (2) it incorporates both exchange value and use value, and (3) it acts as a learning process that accelerates the practical application of the arenas in business strategy and practice.

Contribution: The article builds a bridge between the market definition literature in strategic management and the industrial market segmentation literature, by introducing a novel method for increasing the granularity of market definition, using morphological analysis. Furthermore, the paper responds to the lack of research addressing strategic segmentation processes by developing a six-step market definition process.     

The adoption of direct banking services

The adoption of new products and services is of increasing importance to many industries. This is especially so for those organisations that are marketing technological innovations. In this paper a model of the perceived innovation attributes and the personal characteristics of adopters and non‐adopters was developed, based on literature and consumer research. These are then tested using a questionnaire concerned with the UK market for direct banking services. The results are presented in detail which indicate that the model presented is an excellent predictor of adoption behaviour. From these results a number of interesting implications have been highlighted for marketing practice.     

The impact of customer relationship management capability on innovation and performance advantages: testing a mediated model

Abstract

Customer relationship management (CRM) and innovation are widely considered to be valuable capabilities associated with competitive advantage. However, there is a lack of research demonstrating how they work together to produce performance advantages. This research investigates the mediating role of innovation between CRM and performance. The authors examine the direct impact of both CRM and innovation on firm performance. Moreover, they investigate the role of innovation as a mediating mechanism to explain the effect of CRM on performance. The authors use structural equation modelling to test the relationships among these constructs. The results support the direct impact of CRM and innovation on performance. Also, the findings indicate that the indirect effect of CRM on firm performance through innovation is significant. These results reinforce the view that developing close relationships with customers enhances a firm's ability to innovate.     

Examining the relationship between creativity and innovation: A meta-analysis of organizational,cultural, and environmental factors

It is generally believed that creativity enhances innovative activities. However, empirical research regarding the impact of creativity on innovation, although positive, has produced a wide range of results. In this study, we conduct a meta-analysis of 52 empirical samples comprising 10,538 observations to test the nature of this relationship, and in particular how organizational, environmental, and cultural factors moderate the creativity-innovation link. We find a strong positive relationship between creativity and innovation, especially at the individual level. In addition, we find intriguing moderating effects in which the relationship between creativity and innovation is stronger for large firms, process innovations, and low-tech industries relative to small firms, product innovations, and high-tech industries. Further, we find that moderate levels of uncertainty avoidance maximize the correlation between creativity and innovation. We conclude by discussing theoretical and managerial implications and offering suggestions for future research in the entrepreneurship and innovation literature.     

Different determinants at different times: B2B adoption of a radical innovation

This research aims to empirically determine which factors best explain business to business adoption of a radical, high-tech innovation early in the diffusion process. Early lifecycle data collection provides insights about the differences in determinants of adoption at different times in the product diffusion process. The results indicate that differences do exist between the determinants of early adoption, intent to adopt later, and unawareness of the innovation. The influencers of earliest adopters appear to be innovation-focused: the perceived benefits of the innovation as well as the strength of the producer network positively relate to early adoption; early adopters also tend to perceive the technology in the innovation as less different than previous technology than do those who intend to adopt later. The influence of a champion within the adopting firm, the ability of the firm to sense and respond to new technology, and the depth of technology knowledge within the adopting firm are significant influencers across multiple stages of diffusion, showing that firm-internal traits are particularly important influencers of adoption. Laggard firms are missing the critical firm traits that lead to information gathering and understanding of innovations. In addition to contributing to adoption research theory and methodology, this research has implications for innovation-marketing and innovation-adopting firms.     

Technology support for cooperative work: A framework for studying introduction and assimilation in organizations

This article draws on published research on the nature of the innovation process and exploratory field research in 10 companies to develop a framework for research on organizations’ introduction and assimilation of computer‐supported cooperative work technologies. The research reported in this article, part of a much larger study of the general process of innovation in organizations, focuses specifically on the transfer and assimilation of new technology innovations.

Technologies to support group process, communication, and coordination in face‐to‐face group meetings [electronic meeting support systems (EMSS)] were chosen to illustrate the use of the research framework. The article focuses on the transfer of these technologies from R“D units to target organizational units and the alignment of group, technology, and task during assimilation by end‐user groups. Research propositions are developed and discussed. Future articles will present the findings from current research that utilizes the frameworks presented in this article to study the introduction, transfer, and assimilation of EMSS in organizations.