Strategic human resource practices and innovation performance — The mediating role of knowledge management capacity

This study examines the role of knowledge management capacity in the relationship between strategic human resource practices and innovation performance from the knowledge-based view. This study uses regression analysis to test the hypotheses in a sample of 146 firms. The results indicate that strategic human resource practices are positively related to knowledge management capacity which, in turn, has a positive effect on innovation performance. The findings provide evidence that knowledge management capacity plays a mediating role between strategic human resource practices and innovation performance. Finally, this study discusses managerial implications and highlights future research directions.     

The influence of business strategy on new product activity: The role of market orientation

In this paper, we propose that business strategy influences new product activity both directly and indirectly via its influence on market orientation. Accordingly, we develop a framework linking firms' relative emphasis on cost leadership, product differentiation and focus strategies to firms' customer and competitor orientation as well as their new product development and introduction activity. We use this framework to develop a simultaneous equations model that is tested on survey data from 175 Dutch firms of varying size and across different industries in the manufacturing sector. The surprising findings are that a greater emphasis on a focus strategy results in a decreased emphasis on customer orientation and that competitor orientation has a negative direct influence on new product activity and an indirect positive effect via customer orientation. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.     

Choosing among alternative new product development projects: The role of heuristics

The initial screening decision that marketing managers make is critical. It requires the selection of what innovation project to invest in, which is fundamental to marketing success. However, our knowledge of how managers make these decisions and how this impacts performance is limited. By drawing upon cognitive psychology and the managerial decision-making literature, we address two critical questions. The first question focuses on identifying specific decision-making types (e.g., specific heuristics, intuition) used when making an innovation screening decision. Based on this analysis and prior research, we develop specific decision-maker profiles about how an individual manager decides. The second research question is about connecting these profiles with performance. Specifically, it addresses what the consequences of different decision-maker profiles are on the perceived accuracy and speed of decision-making? Data were collected from 122 senior managers in these industries. We find that when heuristics are used alone, or concurrently with intuition, managers make decisions that are as accurate as when they rely on analytical decision-making. However, the process is significantly faster. The findings provide an important step toward a more comprehensive understanding of decision-making at the front-end of innovation.     

现代企业人力资源管理初探

伴随着信息时代的到来,信息技术和知识经济的迅猛发展已经对我国企业的人力资源管理产生了深远的影响。面对国内企业人力资源管理重管理、轻开发的现象;只强调对员工的开发而忽视对各级管理者素质的提高等问题,企业必须从管理理念、管理制度、管理机制、管理职能、管理手段等多个方面加强和改善人力资源管理工作,使企业在日益激烈的市场竞争中占据主动。     

Market-focused management: Human resource management implications

Under market-focused management (MFM) the whole organization is engaged in the satisfaction of customers' needs—so much so that MFM becomes the philosophy and modus operandi of doing business and customers become the reason for the organization's existence. If this is to happen, human resource philosophies, policies, and practice must be conducive to MFM. The objectives of this article are to briefly review the implications for human resource management. The merits of adopting the business philosophy of MFM as compared to other traditional alternatives have been discussed in detail elsewhere (Webster, 1992; Day, 1990; Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990; Grover, 1995). Here we focus on describing human resource philosophy, policies, and practices options that are affected by MFM.     

金融创新视域下农产品贸易的发展格局与高质量发展对策研究

中国作为农业大国,在农产品贸易方面取得了一定的发展,现已成为世界农业贸易大国。中国农产品贸易极大缓解了国内农产品剩余压力,增加了国内农民的经济收入,促进了中国农村地区的建设和发展。但是在整个发展过程中,仍然存在金融支持力度不够、金融创新不足等问题,这些问题严重制约了中国农产品贸易的发展。从金融创新视域入手,分析了中国农产品贸易的发展格局,研究了当前中国农产品贸易存在的问题,最后提出针对性对策,以期在一定程度上帮助提高中国农产品贸易金融创新力度,促进中国农产品贸易的健康发展。     

Market orientation,product innovation and export performance: evidence from Chinese manufacturers

Based on resource-based view (RBV), this study examines the impact of marketing-related resource (market orientation) and innovation-related resources (innovation orientation and innovation resources) on exporters' performance (new product performance and overall export performance), as well as moderating role of environmental turbulence in the market orientation and export performance link. The questionnaire survey conducted among 220 manufacturing exporters reveals that there exist positive relationships among the constructs in question. This research departs from the majority of past research investigating the relationship among market orientation, product innovation and business performance in three aspects: (1) it examines the impact mechanism how market orientation improves new product performance and export performance through innovation orientation and innovation resources based on RBV, (2) it distinguishes among three constructs involved in product innovation activity, and (3) it extends the research from domestic markets to export markets. We conclude by discussing our contributions, the implications, and possible future extensions.     

The dramatic breakdown of the market orientation concept in the pharmaceutical industry: lessons from Vioxx

In this article we present an in-depth case study to better understand the underlying market orientation concept in relation to bringing new technologies to the marketplace. We use the case history of the anti-arthritis drug Vioxx, developed and marketed by the company Merck & Co. Inc that allegedly killed thousands of customers. The case shows how market orientation can take shape and how the key components may form an explosive cocktail prone to problematic behaviour rather than a synergistic set of orientations that creates value for customers. From the data covering 20 years, it is clear that a consumer orientation and competitor orientation, for example, are difficult to internalise and balance by employees. A competitive orientation seems to lead to tunnel vision regarding profit and market share outcomes. Implications for the fundamental market orientation concept, innovation management, together with management challenges are discussed.     

Consumer acceptance of a revolutionary technology-driven product: The role of adoption in the industrial design development

Understanding how consumers adopt a state of the art product is important for the development and marketing of innovative products. The purpose of this study is to examine factors that affect consumer intentions to use a revolutionary technology-driven product (RTP). The research integrates two innovation adoption models, the Unified Technology Acceptance and Utilization Theory (UTAUT) and the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model with two antecedents of consumer characteristics: consumer innovativeness and perceived value of a new product. The study examines consumer responses to an unfamiliar product, the TEASER which is a conceptual digital cookbook that offers taste sampling, thereby providing an online food-tasting experience. Consumers who are prone to innovativeness and who perceive value in a RTP’s aesthetics are able to discern the conditions that support their intent to use such a product. The resulting model expands the UTAUT and TTF theories by showing that UTAUT variables mediate between the variables of TTF and adoption intentions. These results support the need for nonlinear industrial development processes involving consumers.     

新形式下的企业发展管理架构

由于社会经济飞速发展,市场经济迎来了一个新的局面,企业如何在这新形势下更好的发展,如何做到是企业生存时间更长,知名度更大。这就迫使各大企业在新形势下,如何转变政策,转变战略,转变管理方式。以最快的速度适应新环境,促进企业经济效益以及市场竞争力。本文主要从企业的发展趋势、专业化水平以及企业的战略目标来论述的,为各大企业的发展战略提供参考。     

Local and international knowledge search and product innovation: The moderating role of technology boundary spanning

Drawing on the external knowledge search literature and the literature on international diversification, this study examined the interactive effect of local and international search for new knowledge on product innovation and the moderating role of a firm's technology boundary spanning activities. Specifically, it proposed that extensive local and international search interact to positively predict product innovation success and this relationship is weaker for firms entering a new technology domain. The results using data on 343 Chinese manufacturing firms across 5 industries indicated the support for the predictions.     

Corporate culture and absorptive capacity: The moderating role of national culture dimensions on innovation management

Firms have to strive for innovation constantly in order to gain and retain a competitive advantage, which renders absorptive capacity (ACAP) – a firm’s ability to absorb and apply external knowledge – highly relevant. Based on data obtained from 592 CEOs and managers of firms in Austria, Brazil, Germany, India, Singapore, and the United States, we show how ACAP can be fostered in an international context. We analyze how corporate culture affects potential as well as realized ACAP and how national culture dimensions moderate these relationships in a fit-as-moderation model. We reveal that the adhocracy culture supports potential and realized ACAP, whereas the market and hierarchy cultures hinder both potential and realized ACAP. Moreover, the relationship between corporate culture and potential ACAP is stable across national culture dimensions, whereas selected national and corporate cultures are more effective in fostering realized ACAP. These results open up opportunities for researchers and support firms in their attempts to foster their firms’ knowledge management processes.     

An empirical study on the influencing factors of supplier involvement in new product development

This research identifies six driving factors and twelve enabling factors for supplier involvement in new product development (SINPD) in China via a meta-analysis of the extant literature and a survey of over 100 Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Results show that most suppliers of Chinese manufacturing enterprises engage in new product development at middle or later phase, and the degree of involvement is usually high. Moreover, there are differences in the implementation of SINPD in enterprises of different sizes, types, and industries. The impact of different driving factors and enabling factors on SINPD implementation also varies with enterprise types.     

The role of entrepreneurial marketing in new technology ventures first product commercialisation

This paper sheds light on the importance of entrepreneurial marketing (EM) in the context of new technology ventures (NTVs) first product commercialisation. This study explores the role of EM expressed as the degree of complementarity between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO) in driving firms’ innovation activities including competence exploration and exploitation in achieving first product performance (FPP). The results of a survey drawn from Indian NTVs identify a significant effect for the complementarity of EO–MO on exploratory and exploitative innovation activities. Furthermore, the findings indicate a positive effect of both exploratory and exploitative activities in enhancing FPP and the contingency role of marketing capabilities (MCs) in enhancing the impact of competence exploration and exploitation in first product commercialisation.     

Familiarity and competence diversity in new product development teams: Effects on new product performance

When developing new products, most firms use cross-functional teams, but research on the effect of functional diversity on new product performance returns heterogeneous results. We propose a measure of competence diversity that is more comprehensive than the common functional diversity proxy. Empirical findings, based on a survey of 142 product and sales managers, support the improved predictive validity of our scale. We further observe a mediating effect of the instrumental use of information in the competence diversity–new product performance relationship. Finally, we discuss the moderating effect of familiarity among team members on the relationship between competence diversity and the instrumental use of information. All authors contributed equally to this article and are listed in random order.     

The role of top management teams in transforming technology-based new ventures' product introductions into growth

The literature highlights the importance of top management teams (TMTs) for technology-based new ventures' success in achieving growth, which is often achieved through product introductions. The human capital theory suggests that TMT members' skills, which are typically derived from their education and experience, can facilitate the transformation of new product introductions into growth. We also propose that multiple products that must be managed and brought to the marketplace smoothly and flexibly benefit from the lower coordination needs and conflicts that are typical of functionally homogeneous teams. Using a unique, multi-source dataset on 374 US technology-based new ventures during the period from 2005 to 2014, we find that new product introductions help technology-based new ventures grow only when the TMT has startup experience and is not functionally diverse. Our findings lead us to echo calls in the TMT literature to move away from simple direct-effect models to more situation-dependent analyses of TMT diversity.     

The HR system, organizational culture, and product innovation

This paper outlines the critical role of organizational culture in the link between the HR system and development of new products and services. While it has been generally accepted that an innovation-oriented HR system would lead to higher level of innovation, the literature does not lend full support to this link. This paper is to point out the inadequacy of such simplified view. It is suggested that a developmental culture is the missing link in-between HR system and innovation outcomes. An HR system which emphasizes extensive training, performance-based reward, and team development is necessary to create an organizational culture that is conducive to product innovation. The empirical findings from a survey of 332 firms in Hong Kong confirmed that organizational culture acted as a mediator between a firm's HR system and product innovation.     

The value of human resource management for organizational performance

All executives would like to see their organizations perform better, and most search for tools that can help make this happen. For decades, human resource managers have believed that their function enhances performance. This contention has been met with skepticism on the part of executives, who wonder whether funds allocated to the human resource function are good investments. Dozens of studies have examined this issue, but their inconsistent results have provided no conclusions. To resolve a long-standing and controversial question – does human resource management matter for organizational performance? – we take stock of the available evidence. Based on data from over 19,000 organizations, we conclude that human resource management adds significant value for organizations. In addition, the value added is strongest when human resource systems are emphasized rather than individual practices, when human resource management decisions are tied to strategy, and among manufacturing firms.     

Cultural influences on new product adoption of affluent consumers in India

The purpose of the study was to explore how individual/personal and group-level factors influence Indian consumers' adoption of new food products. The results reflect the interdependence of consumers' individual views and beliefs with those of the group. Indian consumers' perceived characteristics of new foods and their innovativeness are key personal-level factors in impacting their new food purchase decisions. Reflecting collectivist tendencies, interpersonal communication sources and subjective norms at the group level are important mediators of Indian consumers' new food purchases. Marketing implications for food businesses are discussed.