Recombination for innovation: performance outcomes from international partnerships in China

This paper examines the relationship between different types of international partnerships and innovation performance. By drawing on a conceptual framework which outlines how new bundles of transferrable and nontransferrable ownership advantages are created from such partnerships (Collinson and Narula, 2014 ), we analyze empirical evidence from a large‐scale survey of 320 individual company responses from the China‐based operations of foreign multinational firms alongside in‐depth case studies. Our study reveals that different types of collaborative partnerships (cooperative vs. competitive) are associated with different innovation performance outcomes (product vs. process innovation). In addition, we find that a sustainable, reciprocal relationship between collaborative partners can generate superior innovation performance. Contextual factors including the role of government and industry characteristics have an important bearing on innovation performance in collaborative partnerships in China. We conclude with implications for researchers, managers, and policymakers.     

When to Use Loose or Tight Alliance Networks for Innovation? Empirical Evidence

This study examines the impact of different degrees of organizational coupling among the members of innovation alliance project networks on the commercial performance of collaborative innovations. Specifically, we study how type of innovation (modular vs. architectural innovation) moderates this relationship. Using data from 664 product innovation networks from five different industries in the United States, we find that the degree of organizational coupling among innovation network members significantly affects the commercial performance of collaborative innovations and that the type of innovation has a significant moderating effect. More specifically, the impact on commercial innovation performance of organizational coupling is positive for modular innovations and negative for architectural innovations.     

Growth hacking: Insights on data-driven decision-making from three firms

Theoretical backgroundThe work explores how Big Data analysis can reshape marketing decision-making in B2B sector. Deriving from Data-Driven Decision-Making (DDDM) approach, the Growth Hacking model is employed to investigate the role of cognitive computing and big data analytics in redefining business processes.PurposeThe main objectives of the study are: 1) to assess how a data-driven orientation to the use of big data analytics and cognitive computing can reframe marketing decisions in B2B segment; 2) to explore whether the adoption Growth Hacking can be helpful in exploiting the opportunities offered by big data analytics and cognitive computing in B2B marketing.MethodologyThe paper is based on Action Research (AR) methodology that permits researchers to participate actively in the observation of businesses and to examine how decisions are undertaken and managed over time.ResultsThe main findings allow identifying the most common strategies and tactics employed in three companies operating in different B2B sectors to exploit the opportunities offered by cognitive computing and big data analytics according to a data-driven marketing approach. Based on the application of the Growth Hacking model, the tools of analytics and the main objectives, outcomes and implications on marketing decision-making are revealed.OriginalityThe identification of the main objectives and outcomes produced across the three dimensions of the Growth Hacking model (data analysis, marketing and programming) can help academics and practitioners to understand the main levers to attain marketing goals, such as the enhancement of relationship with customers (CRM), continuous learning and development of new products and potential innovation.     

Customer involvement in big data analytics and its impact on B2B innovation

Extant literature assumes that customers mainly serve as passive data providers and that firms take responsibility for big data analytics. In line with a current trend in real-world practice, this research, based on the open innovation literature, challenges this assumption and argues that customers can have more engagement in big data analytics. The authors distinguish two constructs: Customer as Data Provider (CDP) and Customer as Data Analyst (CDA). The former is consistent with the mainstream view that customers serve as the data source. The latter, on the other hand, sheds light on an active role customers play in big data analytics – that is, customers participate in a co-creation process where they acquire, analyze and act on big data. Using survey data of 148 Business-to-Business (B2B) innovation projects, the authors find that both types of customer involvement facilitate B2B product innovation. Furthermore, the authors examine moderation effects of customer need tacitness and customer need diversity. Results show that customer need tacitness negatively moderates the relationship between CDP and new product performance while customer need diversity yields a positive moderation effect. Customer need tacitness is also found to positively moderate the relationship between CDA and new product performance.     

Fostering B2B sales with customer big data analytics

This study focuses on the use of big data analytics in managing B2B customer relationships and examines the effects of big data analytics on customer relationship performance and sales growth using a multi-industry dataset from 417 B2B firms. The study also examines whether analytics culture within a firm moderates these effects. The study finds that the use of customer big data significantly fosters sales growth (i.e. monetary performance outcomes) and enhances the customer relationship performance (non-monetary performance outcomes). However, the latter effect is stronger for firms which have an analytics culture which supports marketing analytics, whereas the former effect remains unchanged regardless of the analytics culture. The study empirically confirms that customer big data analytics improves customer relationship performance and sales growth in B2B firms.     

Organizing Continuous Product Development and Commercialization: The Collaborative Community of Firms Model

The increased importance of knowledge creation and use to firms' global competitiveness has spawned considerable experimentation with organizational designs for product development and commercialization over the last three decades. This paper discusses innovation‐related organizational design developments during this period, showing how firms have moved from stand‐alone organizations to multifirm network organizations to community‐based organizational designs. The collaborative community of firms model, the most recent organizational design in this evolutionary process, is described in detail. Blade.org, a purposefully designed collaborative community of firms dedicated to the continuous development and commercialization of blade servers, a computer technology with large but unforeseeable market potential, is used as an illustrative case. Blade.org's organizational design combines a community “commons” for the collective development and sharing of knowledge among member firms with explicit institutional mechanisms for the support of direct intermember collaboration. These design elements are used to overcome the challenges associated with (1) concurrent technological and market experimentation and (2) the dynamic coordination of a complex emergent system of hardware, software, and services provided by otherwise independent firms. To date, Blade.org has developed more than 60 new products, providing strong evidence of the innovation prowess of the collaborative community of firms organizational model. Based on an analysis of the evolution of organizational designs and the case of Blade.org, implications for innovation management theory and practice are derived.     

Understanding market agility for new product success with big data analytics

The complexity that characterises the dynamic nature of the various environmental factors makes it very compelling for firms to be capable of addressing the changing customers' needs. The current study examines the role of big data in new product success. We develop a qualitative research with case study approach to look at this. Specifically, we look at multiple cases to get in-depth understanding of customer agility for new product success with big data analytics. The findings of the study provide insight into the role of customer agility in new product success. This study unpacks the interconnectedness of the effective use of data aggregation tools, the effectiveness of data analysis tools and customer agility. It also explores the link between all of these factors and new product success. The study is reasonably telling in that it shows that the effective use of data aggregation and data analysis tools results in customer agility which in itself explains how an organisation senses and responds speedily to opportunities for innovation in the competitive marketing environment. The current study provides significant theoretical contributions by providing evidence for the role of big data analytics, big data aggregation tools, customer agility, organisational slack and environmental turbulence in new product success.     

Employees' Innovative Behavior in Social Context: A Closer Examination of the Role of Organizational Care

A substantial body of research has examined the antecedents of innovation in organizational settings, but our current understanding of how social aspects of the work environment influence the innovative behavior of employees remains underdeveloped. One of these social aspects connected to the theme of “doing well by doing good” concerns organizational care, with scholars examining how actions centered on promoting employee well‐being may result in pro‐organizational outcomes. The purpose of this study is to present a conceptual analysis of the intricate relationship between organizational care and employees' innovative behavior by detailing key mediating mechanisms and conditional factors. This research will combine insights from multiple theories and literatures, most notably self‐determination theory, social exchange theory, and the literatures on organizational care, work motivation, and innovation. The proposed multilevel model clarifies how organizational care affects the creative, complex, and mundane elements of employees' innovative behavior through its effect on the motivational constructs of intrinsic motivation, identified motivation, and introjected obligation feelings, respectively. Moreover, the model highlights the potential dark sides of organizational care that managers must consider when designing and implementing caring policies and practices. Specifically, it clarifies how the effect of organizational care on employees' innovative behavior may depend on their subjective perceptions of care intrusiveness and care insincerity. As such, this study responds to calls for rich and nuanced conceptual research in the innovation field, especially concerning the role of employees' social work environment in motivating their innovative behavior. Important theoretical and practical implications of this conceptual analysis will be discussed, and valuable directions for future research will be outlined.     

Creating incentives for innovation? The relationship between pay dispersion in R&D groups and firm innovation performance

Innovation is a critical organizational outcome for its potential to generate competitive advantage. While the contribution of knowledge workers to the generation of innovation is widely recognized, little is known about how organizational incentive mechanisms stimulate or inhibit these workers' behaviors that promote innovation. This study examines the relationship between pay dispersion in R&D groups and firm innovation using employee‐level compensation data in US high‐technology firms. The results show that (1) pay dispersion in R&D groups is negatively related to firm innovation and (2) this negative relationship is alleviated in firms with greater financial slack. This study contributes to the innovation literature by illuminating the implications of organizational incentive systems for successful innovation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Realized absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial universities’ organizational change: the role of process innovation practices

Although essential to all institutions, organizational change is a complex and high risk activity. In this paper, we examine how organizations develop and implement capabilities to facilitate organizational change. Drawing on the dynamic capability perspective and a ‘resourcing’ synergy view, we investigate how realized absorptive capacity in terms of transformation and exploitation capability directly affects organizational change, and how process innovation practices act as an effective mechanism that link transformation and exploitation capability with organizational change. To distinguish our analysis, we focus on both an emerging organizational form and an emerging economy context. Specifically, on the basis of a questionnaire survey of 316 academics from entrepreneurial universities in Malaysia, we find that both transformation and exploitation capability are facilitators of organizational change. However, the relationship of transformation capability with organizational change is fully mediated by process innovation practices, while the relationship between exploitation capability and organizational change is partially mediated by process innovation practices. Our research therefore contributes to the dynamic capability perspective of organizational change and absorptive capacity by highlighting the importance of integrating organizational transformation and exploitation capability with process innovation practices in different ways to facilitate organizational change. Our findings and accompanying discussion on how process innovation practices can generate moves towards universities that are more entrepreneurial will also be of interest to university managers and policy makers.     

Developing organizational agility in product innovation: the roles of IT capability,KM capability,and innovative climate

This study investigates how to leverage information technology (IT) capability to build organizational agility in the context of product innovation. A moderated mediating model is proposed from the capability‐building processes perspective. The data collected from 194 senior executives of firms in China show that knowledge management capability partially mediates the relationship between IT capability and organizational agility. Innovative climate also positively moderates the indirect relationship between IT capability and organizational agility in the context of product innovation. Discussion, implications, and direction for future research are offered at the end of this paper.     

Does complexity deter customer‐focus?

Economic models suggest that firms use a simple cost‐benefit calculation to evaluate customer requests for new product features, but an extensive organizational literature shows the decision to implement innovation is more nuanced. We address this theoretical tension by studying how firms respond to customer requests for incremental product innovations, and how these responses change when the requested innovation is complex. Using large sample empirical analyses combined with detailed qualitative data drawn from interviews, we find considerable variance in the relationship between customer demands, complexity, and investments in incremental innovations. The qualitative study revealed the importance of organization structures, competitive pressures, and incentives for resource allocation processes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global Innovation in MNCs: The Effects of Subsidiary Self‐Determination and Teamwork*

The ability of multinational corporations (MNCs) to leverage their innovation competencies across globally dispersed subsidiaries is an increasingly valuable source of competitive advantage. As multinational enterprises turn to foreign subsidiaries for research and development (R&D) and product development, questions arise regarding the most effective organizational structures for global innovation. Although organizational conditions that satisfy the needs for self‐determination and teamwork have long been considered intrinsic motivators, past research has not analyzed the consequences of intrinsic motivators on global innovation. The basic research question is this: In globally dispersed subsidiary R&D units, what organizational conditions and motivators are associated with the highest knowledge output? A sample of 275 globally dispersed R&D subsidiaries were studied from 1995 to 2002. Data were collected from a postal survey, field and telephone interviews, and secondary sources. Subsidiary self‐determination and teamwork were found to have a significant effect on knowledge output, as objectively measured by patent citations. Subsidiary self‐determination on inputs such as sourcing and hiring, and self‐determination on outputs such as marketing and product development, emerged as positive determinants of knowledge generation in R&D subsidiaries. In addition, interteam cooperation and intrateam cooperation were significant determinants of knowledge generation by subsidiaries. These findings highlight the importance of self‐determination, teamwork, and cooperation to knowledge creation and innovations. Managers face the tough challenge of how to motivate globally dispersed knowledge workers to conduct research that will generate knowledge and will strengthen firm performance. The results provide theoretical and practical insights on how MNCs can leverage their innovation competencies across foreign R&D subsidiaries.     

Performance of Global New Product Development Programs: A Resource-Based View

Gaining a competitive edge in today's turbulent business environment calls for a commitment by firms to two highly interrelated strategies: globalization and new product development (NPD). Although much research has focused on how companies achieve NPD success, little of this deals with NPD in the global setting. The authors use resource‐based theory (RBT)—a model emphasizing the resources and capabilities of the firm as primary determinants of competitive advantage—to explain how companies involved in international NPD realize superior performance. The capabilities RBT model is used to test how firms achieve superior performance by deploying organizational capabilities to take advantage of key organizational resources relevant for developing new products for global markets. Specifically, the study evaluates (1) organizational NPD resources (i.e., the firm's global innovation culture, attitude to resource commitment, top‐management involvement, and NPD process formality); (2) NPD process capabilities or routines for identifying and exploiting new product opportunities (i.e., global knowledge integration, NPD homework activities, and launch preparation); and (3) global NPD program performance. Based on data from 387 global NPD programs (North America and Europe, business‐to‐business), a structural model testing for the hypothesized mediation effects of NPD process capabilities on organizational NPD resources was largely supported. The findings indicate that all four resources considered relevant for effective deployment of global NPD process capabilities play a significant role. Specifically, a positive attitude toward resource commitment as well as NPD process formality is essential for the effective deployment of the three NPD process routines linked to achieving superior global NPD program performance; a strong global innovation culture is needed for ensuring effective global knowledge integration; and top‐management involvement plays a key role in deploying both knowledge integration and launch preparation. Of the three NPD process capabilities, global knowledge integration is the most important, whereas homework and launch preparation also play a significant role in bringing about global NPD program success. Tests for partial mediation suggest that too much process formality may be negative and that top‐management involvement requires careful focus.     

New paradigms for the future: keynote perspectives from The R&D Management Conference 2008

The R&D Management Conference 2008 theme of ‘emerging and new approaches to R&D management’ sought to draw out how R&D‐based organizations today are changing the way they manage (in terms of novel approaches, techniques, models and tools) in face of the challenges and opportunities presented in the current environment. Six keynote presentations by executives, representing both the public and private sectors, elaborated on the following subjects reflecting their experiences on the theme: hyperconnectivity and changing R&D tenets, accelerating discoveries in human health via open access public‐private partnerships, role of government in bridging the innovation gap, building sustainability and innovation in a traditional resource sector, R&D management in the aerospace sector, and leveraging diversity to build a culture of innovation. Their presentations highlighted amongst other things – global trends that are affecting how R&D organizations are operating, economic imperatives driving change in business models, working through partnerships within an open innovation environment, and leveraging the diversity presented by an increasingly globalized R&D workforce for success. Within these presentations are also challenges to researchers to generate new thinking to address current and future problems presented by the R&D environment. The keynote perspectives are summarized in this paper.     

Innovation Performance in New Product Development Teams in China's Technology Ventures: The Role of Behavioral Integration Dimensions and Collective Efficacy

In emerging markets, technology ventures increasingly rely on new product development (NPD) teams to generate creative ideas and to mold these innovative ideas into streams of new products or services. However, little is known about how behavioral integration (a behavioral team process) and collective efficacy (a motivational team process) jointly facilitate or inhibit team innovation performance in emerging markets—especially in China, the world's largest emerging‐market setting with collectivist and high power distance cultures. Drawing on social cognitive theory and behavioral integration research, this article elucidates the relationships between behavioral integration dimensions (i.e., collaborative behavior, information exchange, and joint decision‐making) and innovation performance and also examines how collective efficacy moderates these relationships in China's NPD teams. Results from a sample of 96 NPD teams in China's technology ventures reveal that information exchange is positively associated with innovation performance. Collaborative behavior positively but marginally influences innovation performance, whereas joint decision‐making does not relate to innovation performance. Moreover, collective efficacy demonstrates an important moderating role. Specifically, both collaborative behavior and joint decision‐making are more positively associated with innovation performance when collective efficacy is higher. In contrast, information exchange is less positively associated with innovation performance when collective efficacy is higher. This study makes important theoretical contributions to the literature on team innovation and behavioral integration in emerging markets by offering a better understanding of how behavioral and motivational team processes jointly shape innovation performance in China's NPD teams. This study also extends social cognitive theory by identifying collective efficacy as a boundary condition for the overall effectiveness of behavioral integration dimensions. In particular, this study highlights the condition under which behavioral integration dimensions facilitate or inhibit NPD team innovation performance in China.     

Product–service innovation and performance: the role of collaborative partnerships and R&D intensity

Treating the intersection of the strategic partnerships, R&D intensity and servitisation literatures, this study explores empirically whether external collaborative service development and provision and industrial R&D intensity help to unpack the complex relation between product–service innovation (servitisation) and performance. We argue that manufacturing firms implementing services benefit from strategic partnerships with Knowledge‐Intensive Business Service (KIBS) firms. KIBS partnering provides opportunities for downsizing, externalising risks and sharing knowledge. Additionally, manufacturers in R&D‐intensive industries are more likely to benefit from implementing service provision than firms in other sectors because of industry dynamics and reduced customer uncertainty. The study surveys executives in 370 large manufacturers worldwide. Results reinforce the importance of concentric strategic partnerships to successful product–service innovation in high R&D industries.     

Management innovation in complex products and systems: The case of integrated project teams

This paper examines the process of a management innovation in complex products and systems (CoPS). Prior literature offers limited theoretical and empirical insights into how an inter-organizational relationship delivers CoPS by moving towards ‘integrated project teams’ over time. The research is based on an in-depth, longitudinal case study, drawing on 34 semi-structured interviews and secondary data from following a client-contractor relationship in the UK water industry over time. The study draws out the various management innovation development phases. It also provides detailed insights in the developments and benefits of setting up integrated project teams. The study contributes to extant literature and practice by linking previously separate research streams of organizational design and management innovation with the management of CoPS.     

Big data analytics for supply chain relationship in banking

This paper reports how a commercial bank in Asia uses big data analytic as a tool to explore the internal B2B data to improve supply chain finance and the efficiency of marketing tactics and campaigns. A case study was conducted by analyzing two types of supply chain relationships: (1) supply chain relationships in the credit reports; (2) e-wiring transactions among supply chain companies. The results show that big data analytics is very useful in terms of improving the commercial banks' marketing and risk management performances. The case study also set a good example for B2B firms seeking to understand how they could leverage big data analytics to differentiate customer solutions, sustain profitability and generate new business values. Theorical and practical implications are also discussed.     

You have not been archiving emails for no reason! Using big data analytics to cluster B2B interest in products and services and link clusters to financial performance

The potential of big data analytics when it comes to gaining business insights, such as market trends and consumer preferences, has captured the interest of both scholars and business practitioners. However, the extant literature has so far provided limited empirical evidence to demonstrate how big data analytics can create business value. To address this research gap, this paper followed a novel big data analytical approach that involved analysing email archives about product/services demand clusters in a B2B setting. We analysed 621 k emails exchanged between 2009 and 2018. We identified a number of discussion clusters that were considered proxies for the interest buyers expressed in the products/services on offer. These clusters and associated discussion trends were linked to the company's revenues and financial performance, showing good predictive power. In doing this, we have demonstrated how widely available data, such as emails, which all companies have, can be used to underpin new methods for the early identification and monitoring of product demand trends, informing marketing strategies.