Innovation in business networks: The role of leveraging resources

This study investigates how companies innovate in their business networks. We examine the role of leveraging resources in the context of retail brand paints within the do-it-yourself (DIY) paint industry, where the role of innovation is pertinent to achieve differentiation and create value. The study investigates innovation as a process of leveraging resources within business relationships. Research findings demonstrate that manufacturers and retailers jointly leverage resources to develop and launch innovative retail brands. Companies need to carefully address these resource-leveraging processes and assess their options in developing innovations that enable sustainable growth.     

Neural network application for fuzzy multi-criteria decision making problems

In this paper, a fuzzy multi-criteria decision making model is presented based on a feed forward artificial neural network. This model is used to capture and represent the decision makers' preferences. The topology of the neural network model is developed to train the model. The proposed model can use historical data and update the database information for alternatives over time for future decisions. Basically, multi-criteria decision making problems are formulated, and neural network is used to learn the relation among criteria and alternatives and rank the alternatives. We do not use any utility function for the modeling; however, a unique method is proposed for eliciting the information from decision makers. The proposed model is applicable for a wide variety of multi-attribute decision making problems and can be used for future ranking or selection without managers' judgment effort. Simulation of the managers' decisions is demonstrated in detail and the design and implementation of the model are illustrated by a case study.     

Innovation trajectories and employment in the cleaning industry

The cleaning industry is a service industry which is currently undergoing major changes in scope and omplexity and increasing use of information technologies. This paper highlights the various innovation trajectories which apply to the cleaning industry and seeks to link these to the employment structure in the sector.     

Innovation and integration in the agri-food industry

We deal with the link between innovation and market structure using the empirical example of the Danish agri-food industry. Vertical integration may resolve hold-up problems and here we test for the importance of vertical integration and networks on innovation. We further examine the effects of network relationships on innovation behaviour. We use data from an extensive survey of 444 Danish firms over two years, 2000 and 2005 to estimate a bootstrapped zero-inflated Poisson regression model. The first and most significant result is that organization matters. Further we find that vertical integration as well as contractual arrangements are significant determinants for firms’ innovation behaviour. The direction of integration is important as well. Also, economies of size seem to play an important role. Similarly, the export orientation of the firm is a significant determinant of innovation whereas the sector the firm is operating in is not significant for its innovation behaviour.     

Resource-performance relationships in industrial export ventures: The role of resource inimitability and substitutability

Drawing on resource-based theory and insights from qualitative fieldwork we examine resource drivers of export venture performance in industrial firms using primary data from German and UK industrial-goods manufacturers. Our results indicate that while the levels of individual export venture resources are not directly related to export venture performance in the firms in our sample, many of the resources are related to two important characteristics of resources — namely the inimitability and non-substitutability of the mix of resources available to the export venture. Furthermore, we find that that resource inimitability and non-substitutability are directly related to export venture performance. Taken together these results demonstrate the important role that inimitability and non-substitutability play in mediating the resource-to-performance relationship in the industrial goods export ventures in our sample. Our study provides some of the first direct evidence supporting a key premise of the resource-based view of the firm — that the competitive imitability of a firm's resources and the inability of rivals to use substitute resources to execute a similar strategy are important drivers of firm performance.     

The impact of socialist imprinting and search on resource change: a study of firms in lithuania

Firms in transition economies experienced a large exogenous shock in their external business environment in the late 1980s when these economies moved from a socialist‐oriented economic environment to a more market‐oriented economic environment. This paper examines the following research question in the context of this change: What are some factors that influence transition economy firms to successfully change their operating know‐how or knowledge sets to reflect the demands of their new environment? Building on some core ideas from literature on organizational imprinting, knowledge‐based view of the firm, and firm search, we suggest that two factors have a profound impact on a firm's ability to change. The imprinting effect of firms' prior socialist institutional and market environment adversely impacts their ability to change their operating knowledge. At the same time, firms that search for new knowledge from distant sources (located in mainly non‐socialist countries) are able to successfully change their knowledge to meet the demands of the new market‐oriented economy. Both of these aspects also have joint interdependent effects on the success of change; distant search mitigates some of the adverse impact of socialist market imprinting, but that is not the case for the impact of socialist institutional imprinting. These findings have interesting implications for both researchers and practitioners involved in transition economy settings. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

资源型企业的产业创新方向与途径

资源型企业持续发展的根本在于产业创新,产业创新有其基本规律;信息化创新、绿色化创新、生命技术创新是其产业创新的基本方向;产业链延伸、产业竞争规则创新、产业转型是其产业创新的基本途径。     

Market-facing innovation networks: How lead firms partition tasks, share resources and develop capabilities

We focus, in this paper, on ‘market-facing innovation networks’. Rooted in the modular and integrated nature of the products they develop, high levels of product innovation activity are occurring through the behaviours of firms, leading and developing such networks. These lead firms are small and medium enterprises, traditionally tasked with business to business distribution and commercialisation activities. This study enhances our understanding of how task partitioning and resource sharing practices, and their evolution over time, are related to the nature and scope of capabilities of lead firms within the context of market-facing innovation networks. Through a multiple case study methodology, our findings depict and characterise efficiency and relational approaches of lead firms. Outcomes, in terms of firm and network level innovativeness and commercialisation, are discussed. Findings are explained by the tension created by the need to manage on-going routine distribution activities and emergent networked product innovation activities.     

Innovation in the Shadow of Patent Litigation

We analyze non-cooperative R&D investment by two firms that already hold patents that they can assert against each other with probabilistic success. The market structure results from stochastic innovation and patent litigation. Depending on the level of infringement fees, we highlight positive and negative effects of litigation threats on innovation. We define an appropriate regulatory structure of infringement fees that will implement socially efficient R&D investments in the case of symmetric and asymmetric patent portfolios.     

学习型战略联盟:企业知识的创新与外溢

战略联盟是一种全新的现代组织形式.由于知识的特殊性,使知识交易存在市场失灵现象,企业为了转移和学习知识建立学习型联盟.不同学习联盟类型与不同的学习方式相关,我们区分了三种学习方式,探讨了与之相适应三种学习型战略联盟类型.并进一步指出学习型战略联盟的知识创新和学习竞赛导致的知识的外溢问题.     

A network perspective on idea and innovation crowdsourcing in industrial firms

Crowdsourcing has been attracting the attention of both academics and practitioners over recent years. The aim of this article is to contribute to the current body of knowledge on innovation in networked contexts by systematically analyzing various crowdsourcing configurations available to industrial firms. We first develop a categorization of crowdsourcing in industrial firms comprising four distinct configurations: internal crowdsourcing; community crowdsourcing; open crowdsourcing; and crowdsourcing via a broker. We then proceed to draw from the literature on industry networks to further deepen our understanding of how these four distinct configurations can contribute to business and innovation activities of a focal industrial firm. Specifically, we focus on the structural properties, nature of collaboration, and governance of crowdsourcing networks. This novel combination of crowdsourcing and network research delivers new insights that enrich current understanding on various options available to industrial firms operating in networked contexts to facilitate their innovation processes.     

Relating in business networks: Innovation in practice

Few studies have looked at the innovation process in the early stages of new business ventures in the context of business networks. Reporting on eight years of development of a new venture, we examine how the development of initial business relationships in an ever-changing business network affects technological innovation. We conclude that technological innovation is contingent on the development of business relationships that are a critical mechanism permitting a new venture not only to access but also to produce knowledge essential for innovating. For management this implies the need to strike a judicious balance between internal focus and closure to produce novel solutions and external focus and openness to experiment in business relationships.     

Exploiting the B2B knowledge network: New perspectives and core concepts

This editorial introduces the articles in this special issue of Industrial Marketing Management, which presents the best papers from the 23rd Annual IMP Conference, held at Manchester Business School, UK in September 2007. The papers have been selected to represent the interaction, relationship and network perspectives and encompass, value, relationship assets, trust, commitments and the constitution of networks.     

Innovation and new product introductions in emerging markets: Strategic recommendations for the Indian market

While radical innovations and growth strategies supporting such innovations may provide the firm with very high returns, there are also considerable risks in devising and implementing such innovations. Apart from the business risks of venturing into new territories and new markets, radical innovations also carry with them the burden of accounting for market and environmental factors that are often not under the control of the firm. The opportunities presented by the emergence of several Asian markets, such as India and China, are particularly appealing for Western countries willing to expand into these markets. However, market characteristics, institutional development, and customer behaviors bring into sharp focus the choice of a specific innovation and new product development strategy for such markets. This paper examines these various strategic issues in the context of India. The paper concludes with strategic recommendations for managers and some propositions for future academic research.     

Self- and collective-interests: Using formal network activities for developing firms' business

Many inter-firm network initiatives supported by government funds are based upon the idea that benefits rise incrementally as more actors connect with each other. This paper takes the stand that self-interest and collective-interest are evident in how firms participate in network activities, and how these activities are related to the development of the network. A time-flow model is presented of firms' participation and activities in a network according to specific blends and understandings of self- and/or collective-interest. The way the network is formed also shapes managerial understanding of why firms participate in activities and how self- and collective-interests coincide. A qualitative study in the Danish food industry establishes that every firm views business network activities as important, but each engages differently in these activities. The results of this study reveal interesting patterns between self- and collective-interests for those participating in network activities and the resulting network development. A key finding of this study is the importance of a firm's ability to convert the collective-interest of joint network activities into self-interest gains for the firm. This ability is proposed as an additional network competence to those already present in the literature.     

Innovation, convergence and the role of regulation in the Netherlands and beyond

In the light of converging services for voice, data, and video, this paper discusses the challenges for telecommunications regulation from a European perspective. The Netherlands, a country with excellent conditions for facilities-based competition, is discussed as a case in point. With dynamic issues at the heart of the debate, the role of regulation and government intervention more generally is to create and possibly to sustain conditions among operators to upgrade their networks and to provide innovative services. A fresh look at current regulation suggests that an overhaul may be needed.     

Complementary assets as pipes and prisms: Innovation incentives and trajectory choices

The issue of the failure of incumbent firms in the face of radical technical change has been a central question in the technology strategy domain for some time. We add to prior contributions by highlighting the role a firm's existing set of complementary assets have in influencing its investment in alternative technological trajectories. We develop an analytical model that considers firm heterogeneity with respect to both technological trajectories and complementary assets. Complementary assets play a dual role in incumbents' investment behavior toward radical technological change: they are not only resources (pipes) that can buffer firms from technology change, but also prisms through which firms view those changes, influencing both the magnitude of resources that should be invested and the trajectory to which these resources should be directed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

信息网络融合:理念与规制的创新

信息网络的融合是经济发展的基础及社会发展的必然结果,但实现信息网络的融合却是一个十分复杂的过程,针对中国目前还没有实现真正的信息网络融合的现状,论文从制度开放、商业化运营模式创新及普遍服务新理念的建立进行了深入的研究。     

Network evolution and the embedding of complex technical solutions: The case of the Leaf House network

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the connection between network evolution and technology embedding. To this end, we performed an exploratory case study of the network surrounding an eco-sustainable technology, Leaf House, Italy's first zero-carbon emission house. We apply theories on technological development within industrial networks, with a specific focus on their resource layer and on the three settings involved in embedding an innovation: “developing”, “producing”, and “using”. Our results contribute to these theories by developing four propositions on the connections between network evolution and embedding: first, technology embedding entails both downstream network expansion and upstream restrictions. Secondly, conflicts among actors increase as technology embedding approaches the producing and using settings. Third and fourth, the more the shapes a technology can assume, and the more each of these shapes involves actors acting in different settings, the easier it is to embed it. The paper concludes with managerial implications and suggestions for further research.     

Innovation ecosystems theory revisited: The case of artificial intelligence in China

Beyond the mainstream discussion on the key role of China in the global AI landscape, the knowledge about the real performance and future perspectives of the AI ecosystem in China is still limited. This paper evaluates the status and prospects of China's AI innovation ecosystem by developing a Triple Helix framework particularized for this case. Based on an in-depth qualitative study and on interviews with experts, the analysis section summarizes the way in which the AI innovation ecosystem in China is being built, which are the key features of the three spheres of the Triple Helix -governments, industry and academic/research institutions-as well as the dynamic context of the ecosystem through the identification of main aspects related to the flows of skills, knowledge and funding and the interactions among them. Using this approach, the discussion section illustrates the specificities of the AI innovation ecosystem in China, its strengths and its gaps, and which are its prospects. Overall, this revisited ecosystem approach permits the authors to address the complexity of emerging environments of innovation to draw meaningful conclusions which are not possible with mere observation. The results show how a favourable context, the broad adoption rate and the competition for talent and capital among regional-specialized clusters are boosting the advance of AI in China, mainly in the business to customer arena. Finally, the paper highlights the challenges ahead in the current implementation of the ecosystem that will largely determine the potential global leadership of China in this domain.