Persistence of product innovation: comparing breakthrough and incremental product innovation

In this paper we examine whether and to what extent breakthrough and incremental product innovation is persistent at the firm level. Drawing on a panel database created from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) we find that lagged breakthrough product innovation ‘new to the market’, has a significant and positive influence on firms’ ability to develop current breakthrough innovation, while this is not the case for incremental-product innovation ‘only new to the firm’. Our findings show that the dynamics of innovation persistence differ across types of (product) innovations.     

产品创新对组织绩效关系之研究

越来越多的企业利用不断推出新产品获得市场与消费者的青睐,以建立长期竞争优势。企业若能成功推出新产品,除能以独一无二的新产品提高产品与市场的价值之外,更能提升企业整体竞争力。然而,在现今竞争激烈导致产品生命周期急遽缩短的趋势下,使得产品创新在企业日常营运角色中的重要性日渐增加,企业若能掌握产品推出时机,并且藉由创新延长产品生命周期,就有机会维持企业在座业中的领导地位。本研究以3M作为个案研究之对象,探讨渐进式创新、技术突破、市场突破以及激追式创新等四种不同的产品创新类型对组织绩效的影响,期能藉由实际个案与相关数据显示产品创新与组织绩效间之关联性。研究结果显示,无论属于何种产品创新类型,对组织绩效都有正向的影响。若能激发激进式产品创新的产生,更能透过新产品或新技术创造新的产品践,亦能强化组织的竞争优势,成为组织竞争优势的根源。3M超过百年的发展历史以及不断创新的历程与经验,使它成为商业历史发展的裹程碑外,更成为现今各企业的典范与楷模。     

企业突破性技术创新的技术轨道与市场轨道分析

随着经济不断发展、产品生命周期不断缩短、技术创新速度不断加快,打破原来创新轨道的突破性技术创新研究备受关注。企业不仅要判断好当前的技术范式的生命周期阶段,而且要辨析、预测未来的主导技术范式,而且企业应该正确地进行突破性技术创新的时机预测和把握;企业突破性技术创新产品需要努力地寻求低端市场的突破口进而向高端市场慢慢接近并逐渐取得市场的主导地位,同时企业突破性技术和产品需要挖掘潜在的用户市场并培养他们成为主流用户,使企业获得更多的利润,提升企业竞争力。     

Process and Product Innovation: Complementarity in a Vertically Differentiated Monopoly with Discrete Consumer Types

This paper examines the complementarity between process and product innovation where process innovation reduces the marginal cost of quality. In the context of a vertically differentiated monopolistic market with discrete consumer types, we investigate how the nature of (fixed versus variable) innovation costs and the distribution of consumers over different types affect the complementarity between process and product innovation. We show that under variable innovation costs a process innovation is more likely to occur alone than both innovations together when taste diversity (or consumer heterogeneity) is not significant and/or when there are more low-type than high-type consumers.     

Technological innovation and the demand for labor by firms in expansion and recession

ABSTRACT

With firm data from the Spanish Community Innovation Survey (CIS) for the period 2003–2014, we find a positive and significant effect of innovation in the demand for labor when firms introduce product and process innovations in the same time period. The effect of innovation on the demand for labor is countercyclical, higher in the recession, after 2008, than in the expansion, before 2008, but the probability that firms innovate in product and process is counter-cyclical, i.e. lower in the recession. Altogether, the elasticity of the demand for labor to the probability that firms introduce product and process innovations remains stable throughout the sample period, at around 0.035. Innovation contributes to stabilize average employment during the cycle, more so when the innovation is in product, alone or together with process, than when it is only in process. These results are broadly consistent with product and process innovations shifting firms’ demand and production functions upwards, but differentially in expansions (less product market competition) than in contractions (more competition).     

突破性技术创新:理论综述与研究展望

首先通过溯源和梳理关于突破性技术创新的现有研究文献,从技术能力和商业模式的维度划分创新类型,辨析了不同类型创新的共性与差异,并基于技术变革与商业变革重塑突破性技术创新的概念内涵。然后基于"过程"视角对突破性技术创新的形成机理与演化路径进行梳理和凝练,剖析了突破性技术创新从技术概念设想或创意构想乃至市场实现的价值脉络,明晰了突破性技术创新的高度不确定性、非连续性和非线性的本质。最后分析研究结果,并对未来研究进行展望。     

国际代工制造业升级与技术创新——基于长三角微观调研数据的实证分析

从组织学习的视角发现,国际代工制造业企业通过逐渐增加的经验、知识融合与知识编码,能够提高其渐进性创新与突破性创新的能力。通过构建结构方程模型,利用长三角地区国际代工制造业企业的调研数据,对国际代工制造业升级与渐进性创新和突破性创新之间的路径关系进行实证检验。检验结果表明国际代工制造业升级与渐进性创新、突破性创新之间存在关联,国际代工制造业升级到越高的阶段,获取突破性创新的可能性越大。因此,对于升级到较高阶段的国际代工制造业企业,政府部门应为其创造更加宽松的政策和体制环境,充分发挥企业主体性作用,推动其进行突破性创新,实现产业转型与升级。     

外部知识源连接、开放式创新与企业创新绩效关系研究

构建了“知识连接—知识交互—创新绩效”概念模型,采取问卷调查法研究外部知识源连接、开放式创新与企业创新绩效的关系。研究发现：①知识连接多样性与知识连接深度对渐进性创新绩效、突破性创新绩效具有显著正向影响,且知识连接多样性对两类创新绩效的影响均高于知识连接深度;②内向型创新、外向型创新对于企业获取渐进性创新绩效及突破性创新绩效具有促进作用;③企业通过内向型创新能够将知识连接多样性、知识连接深度的价值转化为渐进性创新绩效及突破性创新绩效,而通过外向型创新能够将知识连接多样性、知识连接深度的价值转化为突破性创新绩效。     

传统产业升级与战略新兴产业发展——基于昆山制造企业的经验数据分析

从组织学习的视角发现,通过知识的累积、融合与编码,产业升级能够提高企业的增量性创新和突破性创新能力。通过构建结构方程模型,利用昆山传统制造业和战略新兴产业的调研数据,对产业升级、增量性创新与突破性创新之间的路径关系进行实证检验。实证研究表明传统产业升级到越高的阶段,越有利于突破性创新;而战略性新兴产业升级到越高的阶段,越不利于突破性创新,但有利于增量性创新。     

破坏性创新：概念、比较与识别

破坏性创新理论是创新管理和企业战略等领域的最新研究进展,但它还未形成自己的研究范式,在概念界定、创新识别等问题上存在较大争论.通过对破坏性创新与维持性创新、突破性创新的比较,可以从技术、产品、市场及竞争四个方面对其进行识别,即破坏性创新必须基于新的技术轨迹,具备初始阶段的低端性和边缘性,且具有"非竞争性".     

中国城市新兴技术的双元创新路径与发生机制——以生物医药技术为例

以生物医药技术为例，利用专利数据，建立技术共现网络与创新合作网络，分析2000—2018年中国生物医药技术演化特征、双元创新格局及城市间创新联系，利用层次回归模型探究其双元创新发生机制及路径。结果表明，生物医药细分技术间的可达性逐渐提高，2013年以后技术体系化程度显著提高，技术融合呈现出群落特征；城市渐进式创新与突破式创新存在空间正向关联，但两者具有不同发生机制；城市在创新网络中的中心性地位对知识搜索深度和渐进式创新更重要，而其中介性地位对知识搜索宽度和突破式创新更重要；知识搜索深度更利于渐进式创新，而搜索宽度更利于突破式创新；关系强度在渐进式创新过程中起正向调节作用，在突破式创新过程中起负向调节作用；不同类型城市在网络位置、知识搜索、关系强度方面表现出不同演化规律，使城市在创新路径上产生分化。     

市场学习、创新方式与企业多维绩效关系研究

探讨了探索性和应用性市场学习、突破式和渐进式创新与企业效率和效果绩效之间的差异化关系。基于303家中国企业双份调研数据的实证研究发现：渐进式创新正向促进突破式创新,并受竞争战略独特性正向调节;探索性市场学习比应用性市场学习更有助于促进突破式创新,而应用性市场学习比探索性市场学习更有助于促进渐进式创新;两种市场学习交互正向影响突破式和渐进式创新,但对突破式创新的影响更强;突破式创新比渐进式创新对绩效效率与效果两方面的提升都更大。     

Skill-replacing process innovation and the labour market: Theory and evidence

I study the differential impacts of product innovation and process innovation on the labour market. Using European data from 2000 to 2018, I find that industries with proportionally more firms reporting product innovation than process innovation also tend to exhibit a lower income share of low-skilled workers. To better understand the mechanism, I develop a dynamic growth model in which firms conduct both types of innovation endogenously. In the model, product innovation introduces new intermediate goods, which tend to require high-skilled workers to implement. Process innovation simplifies existing production technologies and thereby allows firms to replace high-skilled workers with low-skilled ones. I calibrate an extended version of the model to the largest two industries in UK in 2014 and 2018, respectively. I find that product innovation has become less costly but increasingly demanding for skills, and the cost of process innovation has increased on average and become more diverse across firms.     

Failures and Coping Strategies in Indigenous Technology Capability Process

This paper reports on a theory building effort aimed at understanding persistent difficulties with efforts at developing plant-level indigenous technology in a developing country. The firms, having obtained the technology from a donor firm or a laboratory find that implementation and adaptation issues are difficult due to tacit technology knowledge and lack of technical or managerial or market-related systems and experiences. These lead to technological failures referring to situations where serious deviations from expected opportunities and outcomes occur. The failures include loss of entry opportunities, or rejection of technology by the market, or failure at improving processes. With insights offered from 92 organizations in India we identify the different technological failures that occur and ways used to overcome these problems. Exploratory results suggest four major technological failures. (1) Failure due to inappropriate choice of technology leading to longer-than-expected time for establishing production, or inefficient production process, and/or market losses due to poor image of the poorly calibrated product. (2) Failure due to inadequate planning and support for innovation occurs when firms do not invest sufficiently in plant level data collection and analysis, thus missing important avenues for incremental innovation. (3) Failures due to inappropriate processes reveal how short-term orientation and low integration amongst different functional groups thwart the firm’s adaptive and innovative abilities. (4) Finally, failure due to product‐market mismatch and inadequate market survey occurs when market desired features are not maintained, or the incorporated changes are not cost effective. The coping strategies adopted by the firms are also discussed.     

突破性技术创新的非线性与非连续性演化——以智能驾驶汽车为例

通过对突破性技术创新进行理论溯源,提炼了突破性技术创新的技术轨迹和价值实现路径。采取案例研究方法,以谷歌与丰田为案例对象,以智能驾驶汽车作为突破性技术创新的例子,从技术维度与市场维度剖析了智能驾驶技术的发展历程。研究发现:突破性技术创新起步于新技术和新市场,能为客户创造新的市场需求、科学问题解决方案;突破性技术创新具有非线性、非连续性的发展特征,突破性技术创新并不是某一特定节点的技术或产品,而是时间维度上技术或产品功能不断完善及演进的结果;企业在进行突破性技术创新时,会根据自身的资源基础、产业链中的竞争地位以及市场反馈建立与在位企业迥异的发展模式。     

The interaction effect of strategic orientations on new product performance in the high-tech industry: A nonlinear model

Innovation and market orientation are two strategic orientations or business philosophies that can guide a company in its business activities. Although the interaction effect of these two strategic orientations is conceptually recognized as a critical factor for new product's success, empirical results are mixed. This paper examines this issue in terms of innovation orientation, two types of market orientations (responsive and proactive), and new product performance. Based on a sample of 107 high-tech firms, the results of this study show that the interaction between innovation orientation and two types of market orientation yields different patterns of nonlinear responses for new product performance. Specifically, new product performance, when derived from the interaction between innovation orientation and responsive market orientation, is in the form of an inverted U, i.e., the interaction effect is contributory to firm performance until an optimal level is reached, and then the effect becomes detrimental thereafter. However, new product performance derived from innovation orientation and proactive market orientation is in the form of a U, i.e., the interaction effect is detrimental to firm performance until a threshold level is reached and then the effect becomes contributory thereafter. The different patterns of new product performance indicate that the costs and organizational learning effects of these two strategic orientation interactions are dissimilar. The paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

组织学习与组织创新关系的元分析——维度分化和边界效应

采用元分析对组织学习与组织创新关系进行精确估算，并从维度分化、边界效应视角探讨二者关系的演化规律。结果发现：组织学习显著促进组织创新；探索式/利用式学习与突破式/渐进式创新呈正相关，但探索式学习对突破式创新的促进作用更显著，利用式学习则反之；中国文化对二者关系的提升作用显著强于西方文化，组织学习完整构念对组织创新的影响程度大于单一维度，而地区发达程度和所属行业并未显现出调节作用。     

突破性技术创新研究:现状与展望——基于SSCI和CSSCI期刊的文献计量分析

突破性技术创新是中国落实创新驱动、绿色发展、提升关键核心技术创新能力等多个国家战略的重要路径。本文采用文献计量方法和知识图谱工具,以2001—2018年发表于SSCI和CSSCI期刊的765篇文献为研究样本,从多个视角系统揭示国内外突破性技术创新研究的现状,并对未来研究方向进行展望。主要研究结论是:近18年国内外突破性技术创新研究发文量总体呈逐年上升趋势,国内研究与国外相比起步较晚且持续热度较低、对外合作研究较少且国际影响力不足;突破性技术创新研究遵循的理论基础主要是社会网络理论、动态资源管理理论和组织学习理论;突破性技术创新研究的热点主要集中于技术、组织、资源和财务四个方面,与市场发展问题相关的研究是薄弱环节。进一步从创新主体、创新变轨、研究层次和研究主题四个方面归纳了突破性技术创新研究热点的演化规律和存在问题。突破性技术创新的市场风险、跨国合作战略、大数据赋能和绿色导向会成为未来突破性技术创新研究的主攻方向。     

Technological innovation, organizational linkages and strategic degrees of freedom

This paper draws on case studies of seuen LK-based multinational companies to examine the relationship between different types of technological innovation, internal and external organizational linkages and technology strategy. A model of technological innovation is deueloped to help explore this relationship. The model consists of three dimensions—technology, component and product—linked by four modes of innovation—incremental, architectural, fusion and breakthrough. The findings support the contingency theory, where different organizational structures and processes are consistent with dgerent contingency theoy, where diffrent organizational structures and processes are consistent with development.     

Failures and Coping Strategies in Indigenous Technology Capability Process

This paper reports on a theory building effort aimed at understanding persistent difficulties with efforts at developing plant-level indigenous technology in a developing country. The firms, having obtained the technology from a donor firm or a laboratory find that implementation and adaptation issues are difficult due to tacit technology knowledge and lack of technical or managerial or market-related systems and experiences. These lead to technological failures referring to situations where serious deviations from expected opportunities and outcomes occur. The failures include loss of entry opportunities, or rejection of technology by the market, or failure at improving processes. With insights offered from 92 organizations in India we identify the different technological failures that occur and ways used to overcome these problems. Exploratory results suggest four major technological failures. (1) Failure due to inappropriate choice of technology leading to longer-than-expected time for establishing production, or inefficient production process, and/or market losses due to poor image of the poorly calibrated product. (2) Failure due to inadequate planning and support for innovation occurs when firms do not invest sufficiently in plant level data collection and analysis, thus missing important avenues for incremental innovation. (3) Failures due to inappropriate processes reveal how short-term orientation and low integration amongst different functional groups thwart the firm's adaptive and innovative abilities. (4) Finally, failure due to product-market mismatch and inadequate market survey occurs when market desired features are not maintained, or the incorporated changes are not cost effective. The coping strategies adopted by the firms are also discussed.