Technology,innovation and knowledge: The importance of ideas and international connectivity

The relevance of ideas is at the core of the IB field and has been captured in concepts like technology, innovation and knowledge. While these concepts have evolved over the last decades, the point that the ideas and the international connectivity are central for IB remains genuine. This paper is an attempt to take stock of the evolution of the concepts technology, innovation and knowledge in IB literature along the past five decades with a particular focus on the role of the Columbia Journal of World Business (CJWB) and the Journal of World Business (JWB) in this evolution. Likewise, our objective is to offer a research agenda for the coming decade. We proceed in two steps. First, we scrutinize how the IB literature has progressed and expanded over the last five decades, illustrating this on the basis of articles published in CJWB and JWB. Second, we take a helicopter view on this literature and reflect on the insights we have gained and the challenges the IB field has ahead that can constitute the basis for a future research agenda. We highlight the importance of creating a micro-foundation of knowledge processes where mechanisms on the interaction between the higher levels (nation, firm, teams) and the individual level are clarified.     

Dynamic analysis of innovation and international transfer of technology through licensing

This paper develops a quality-ladder type dynamic general equilibrium model with endogenous innovation and technology licensing as a major source of international technology transfer in developing countries. Examining the dynamic characteristics of the model fully, we explore the short- and long-run effects of both an improvement in the probability of reaching a licensing agreement with a given effort and an increase in the license fee rate. The model shows that the former promotes innovation and technology transfers in both the long and short run, while the latter discourages them.     

Services and innovation systems: European models of Technology Centres

In regional contexts with a dense fabric of small- and medium-sized companies, the promotion of knowledge-intensive services through Technology Centres is a key innovation policy. This paper examines four models of Technology Centres in Europe: Baden-Württemberg (Germany), Denmark, Emilia-Romagna (Italy) and the Valencian Community (Spain). Aspects such as the participation of private agents, the financing of the Centres, and the diversity and heterogeneity of the models are discussed. Both the economic-productive base (company structure, sector specialization, location patterns, etc.) and the political–institutional features (distribution of competences, available budget, etc.) are major points for establishing the definition of each model.

Network configuration and innovation success: An empirical analysis in German high-tech industries

Based on the assumption that intensity and structure are the most important dimensions of a firm's technological network, the authors identity seven different types of technology-oriented network configurations. Drawing upon a database of 321 high-tech companies, they show that innovation success is significantly correlated with a firm's technological network. Product and process innovations are shown to demand different types of network configurations.     

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.     

Technology adoption: Amplifying versus simplifying innovations

A conceptual distinction is offered between amplifying versus simplifying technological innovations. This distinction is shown to have value in explaining intended adoption. The results of the study indicate the need for further conceptualization and research regarding the role of innovation characteristics in adoption-decision processes.     

日本综合科技创新会议（CSTI）中的科技外交工具研究

当前,世界各国纷纷立足科技创新,以科技外交为触手参与国际竞争和规则重构。日本综合科技创新会议（CSTI）是日本最高科技政策咨询决策部门,其重要职能之一便是促进日本科技外交发展。本文基于中国学者张冀燕对科技外交工具的分类,以CSTI的发展、产出成果中展现的工具性为切入点,分析日本科技外交发展特点,为我国发展科技外交提供策略建议。     

Entrepreneurship, innovation, and corruption

Efforts to control corruption increase levels of trust in the ability of the state and market institutions to reliably and impartially enforce law and the rules of trade. Such trust facilitates the development of arms-length trade and the coordination of complex economic activities. We posit that better control of corruption will also be associated with rising levels of innovation and entrepreneurship. Absent such trust, however, monitoring and other transactions cost should restrict the scale and scope of trade and thus, hamper productivity and investment in innovation and entrepreneurship. Longitudinal data from 64 nations lends support to our propositions, thus helping unpack the puzzling relationship between entrepreneurship, innovation, and corruption.     

Multilateral alliances and innovation output: The importance of equity and technological scope

The formation of R&D alliances has become an increasingly popular way to achieve improved innovation outcomes. However, R&D alliances face high failure rates due to the dual nature, cooperation and competition, of what can be a very challenging inter-firm relationship, a problem that is compounded when an alliance involves more than two partners. As such, it is important to understand the mechanisms that encourage cooperation in multilateral alliances to help firms achieve desired innovation outcomes. In this study, we hypothesize two such mechanisms: equity governance structure and multi-technology scope. We test our hypotheses using panel data from the pharmaceutical industry spanning 15 years. Our results support the idea that equity governance and having a multiple technology scope are positively related to innovation outcomes in multilateral alliances.     

Understanding innovation

While innovation has become a pervasive term, many of today’s organizations still find innovation elusive. One reason may be that much of what is being said about innovation contributes to misunderstanding. To truly manifest innovation and reap its benefits, one must recognize that innovation is three different things: innovation is an outcome, innovation is a process, and innovation is a mindset. Innovation as an outcome emphasizes what output is sought, including product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation, business model innovation, supply chain innovation, and organizational innovation. Innovation as a process attends to the way in which innovation should be organized so that outcomes can come to fruition; this includes an overall innovation process and a new product development process. Innovation as a mindset addresses the internalization of innovation by individual members of the organization where innovation is instilled and ingrained along with the creation of a supportive organizational culture that allows innovation to flourish. Such an understanding defines necessary elements, considerations, and vernacular surrounding the term so that better decisions can be made, thereby enabling innovation and having a greater propensity to succeed.     

产业集聚、技术创新途径与高新技术企业出口的实证研究

在提出产业聚集、技术创新途径对企业出口影响理论假说的基础上,文章利用江苏高新技术企业数据,试图揭示产业集聚、技术创新途径对高新技术企业出口的影响。结果显示,产业集聚对企业出口具有显著的正向作用;相对于技术引进、消化吸收与二次创新,自主创新对企业出口的促进作用最为明显。进一步研究发现,企业居于产业集群内并不意味着就一定能够获取集聚效应从而引致出口能力的提升,集群内企业获取集聚效应的前提是能够融入产业集群式生产分工网络,或是融入产业集群产业链与产品链。据此,文章提出了培育企业自主创新能力、发挥产业集群效应以促进企业竞争力提升的政策建议。     

Technology competencies in competitive environment

Although prior studies suggest that technology competencies play a significant role in firm innovation and competitiveness, what and how technology competencies interacted with competitive environment affect firm innovation has not been fully understood. This paper fills this research gap through a questionnaire survey of 165 firms together with a number of interviews drawn from the Taiwan's information and communication technology (ICT) industry. The results suggest that capabilities of exploring or exploiting technological opportunities, core technology capability, and autonomy of R&D decisions are particularly important to firm innovation in a highly competitive environment, whereas over commitments to existing technologies may constrain a firm's innovation especially in such environment. Moreover, different types of competitive environment require different types of technological competencies to enhance firm innovativeness. This paper contributes to the existing theory by examining the joint effect of technology competency and competitive environment on a firm's innovation.     

Creative workforce density, organizational slack, and innovation performance

This study examines the effects of creative workforce density and organizational slack on innovation performance. This article suggests an inverse U-shaped relationship between creative workforce density and innovation performance and proposes two governing forces relating to this relationship. Moreover, this study suggests that different slacks vary in affecting innovation. When adding absorbed and unabsorbed slacks as moderators, the relationship between creative workforce density and innovation performance becomes strengthened or attenuated respectively. Comprehensive secondary data on 305 Taiwanese firms in IT sector support the prediction. This article also discusses the managerial implications and highlights future research directions.     

Editorial introduction: Retail innovation in the 4th industrial revolution

Innovative technologies in Industry 4.0 are transforming retail environments and encouraging the digitalization of the retail process. From the retailer's point of view, the adoption of revolutionary technologies has led to the expectation of cost savings and increased revenue. Furthermore, various technological innovations, such as automation, are creating more valuable experiences for consumers. New technologies have also impacted the academic study of retailing through enabling researchers to employ new and more advanced research methodologies. The purpose of this special issue is to address the following question: What is the impact of 4th industrial revolution technologies both in the retail industry and academia? To find out the answer, 58 empirical and theoretical articles were received and reviewed, and 11 articles were finally accepted for inclusion in the special issue. We believe these 11 articles have contributed to the understanding of the theories and practices in the retail industry under the ongoing 4th industrial revolution.     

Developmental management: Theories,methods, and applications in entrepreneurship,innovation, and sensemaking

This paper summarizes the best papers of the Global Innovation and Knowledge Academy (GIKA) conference, which took place in July 2013 in Valencia, Spain. The Journal of Business Research has published a special issue entitled “Developmental management: Theories, methods, and applications in entrepreneurship, innovation, and sensemaking”. All of them went through many rounds of double-blind reviews and revisions. Theories, methods, and applications are the three pillars to solve the issues in entrepreneurship, innovation, and sensemaking. Entrepreneurship contributes to the quality and future hopes of a sector, economy or even a country. The role of the entrepreneurs is crucial in creating value. Innovation has become important as the global economy seeks to escape from a period of major recession. In organizations, sensemaking consists of cognitive strategies for interpreting reality. It is interesting to examine how these three issues interacting with each other. And these papers contribute to various perspectives of these interactions in different countries.     

Absorptive capacity, innovation, and financial performance

This study here examines the role of absorptive capacity as both a mechanism to identify and translate external knowledge inflows into tangible benefits, as well as a means of achieving superior innovation and time-lagged financial performance. Using path analysis in a sample of 461 Greek enterprises participating in the third Community Innovation Survey, this study demonstrates that external knowledge inflows are directly related to absorptive capacity and indirectly related to innovation. Absorptive capacity contributes, directly and indirectly, to innovation and financial performance but in different time spans. This study, therefore, contributes to the understanding of absorptive capacity's antecedents and outcomes by providing empirical evidence of longitudinal form that offers important research and practical implications.     

Managing innovation dilemmas: The cube solution

Innovation has become a universal feature of corporate life. Almost no company can survive without innovation. However, when it comes to developing innovation strategies, managers often are left alone to decide which innovation types to pursue, how to balance them in an overall portfolio, how to allocate resources, and how to implement them. In short, managers face a variety of innovation dilemmas. One of the most pertinent problems is how to distinguish innovation types in a meaningful way. In this article, we introduce the innovation cube, a tool that helps position innovation types in a managerially meaningful way. Once managers know how to relate and compare their innovation types to those of other companies, the cube helps them to better formulate their innovation strategy.     

研发国际化趋势下我国技术创新模式的选择

技术创新能力一直是制约发展中国家经济增长和提升企业国际竞争力的关键因素。目前绝大多数发展中国家都在尝试通过吸引跨国公司研发投资来实现自身的技术跨越式发展。然而，跨国公司的研发国际化对东道国技术创新是一把“双刃剑”，选择怎样的技术创新模式来实现东道国利益的最大化就成为重要的研究课题。本文认为，在研发国际化趋势下我国应采取自主创新为主、模仿与合作创新为辅的组合模式。     

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.     

Size, strategic, and market orientation affects on innovation

Based on a random sample of 500 South Yorkshire non-hi-tech manufacturing small, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the quantitative findings support the hypothesis that size, strategic, and market orientation associate with innovation. The results show that prospectors are medium-sized companies and small companies, defenders. Prospectors are more innovative and market-oriented than defenders. The findings reveal that to succeed in an intense competitive environment, non-hi-tech manufacturing SMEs have to be proactive toward market opportunities, receptive to innovation and take the lead in new product innovation. However, their weaknesses include a lack of flexibility, a partial open culture and an organizational structure that impedes sustained innovation. This study addresses a gap in the literature, by linking innovation to the strategic orientation of the firm instead of examining firms' specific characteristics or the effects of external environment and structural factors. The research focuses on non-hi-tech manufacturing SMEs.