Actor roles and role patterns influencing innovation in living labs

Innovation networks are embodied and shaped by their participants. This paper examines actors' roles in living labs, which are defined as networks of open innovation. The study utilizes four approaches to roles: structuralist, symbolic interactionist, resource-based, and action-based approaches. Our empirical analysis of 26 living labs in four different countries identifies a number of actor roles associated with open innovation. In addition, it reveals four role patterns characteristic of living labs: (i) ambidexterity, (ii) reciprocity, (iii) temporality, and (iv) multiplicity. These patterns distinguish actor collaboration in networks characterized by heterogeneous actors, the coexistence of individual and shared motives, high degree of openness, and user involvement. Scholars and practitioners of innovation learn that understanding of role patterns in living labs can contribute to building, utilization, and orchestration of open innovation networks.     

Development and return on execution of product innovation capabilities: The role of organizational structure

This paper conceptualizes and tests an integrated model that combines the dual-core and ambidextrous models of product innovation. The integrated model distinguishes the development and return on execution of radical and incremental product innovation capabilities. The authors argue that organizational structure plays an important dual role as an (a) antecedent to the development of radical and incremental product innovation capabilities and (b) as a moderator in determining the new product performance returns from executing such capabilities. Using a sample of high-tech firms, the study finds that organizational structure is more consistent in predicting the execution of product innovation capabilities into new product performance than in predicting the development of such capabilities. For example, the effect of radical product innovation capability on new product performance is negative but nonsignificant under a formal structure, while the same effect is positive under an informal structure. Conversely, the effect of incremental product innovation capability on new product performance is positive under a formal structure, while the same effect is negative under an informal structure. The implications for managing different types of product innovation capabilities under formal versus informal structures and their effects on new product performance are discussed.     

Sense-making and agenda construction in emerging business networks — How to direct radical innovation

This paper focuses on the role of sense-making and development agenda construction in emerging business fields characterized by radical innovation. First, the networked environment of emergent business fields is described. It is shown that both sense-making and agenda construction are key cognitive processes in managing in this environment. Then, a framework describing the dimensions of managerial sense-making and its antecedent factors is suggested and discussed. Finally, the phenomenon of agenda construction and communication and its role in influencing the direction of business field development is examined. Discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications concludes the paper. The paper provides significant new understanding on the roles of sense-making and agenda construction in the emergence of new business fields. It contributes both to network theory of emerging fields and management in radical innovation contexts.     

Learning orientation, firm innovation capability, and firm performance

Contemporary organizations require a strong learning orientation to gain competitive advantage. Based on in-depth interviews with senior executives and a review of the literature, the present investigation delineates four components of learning orientation: commitment to learning, shared vision, open-mindedness, and intraorganizational knowledge sharing. A framework is tested using data from a broad spectrum of US industries. Learning orientation is conceptualized as a second-order construct. Its effect on firm innovativeness, which in turn affects firm performance, is examined. The results generally support theoretical predictions, and some interesting findings emerge.     

Identity,collaboration and radical innovation: The role of dual organisation identification

This paper explores the nature of the relationship between identity and the radical innovation process in the case of the Solid State Pharmaceutical Cluster (SSPC). Antecedents and consequences of identification with the SSPC and the transitioning of identify from an organisational orientation to a dual organisation identity are discussed. We demonstrate that organisational identity can represent a substantial barrier to collaborating for radical innovation, and explicate how identity shifts can smooth the transition from competitor to collaborator. This study illustrates that opportunities were created through leveraging affinity to provide an environment conducive to radical innovation where members could interact, explore and collaborate.     

Exclusive territories and performance dimensions in industrial distribution channels

There are two main approaches to studying vertical restraints in distribution channels: the anti-competitive and the efficiency approach. This article sets out to analyze the effects of exclusive territories agreements on performance levels in the distribution channel by proposing a number of hypotheses based upon these two approaches and by testing them with paired data from a sample of 116 manufacturer-dealer relationships from the Spanish industrial market. Results show that manufacturers and dealers perceive higher role performance levels in their partners in relationships characterized by exclusive territories. In a similar way, both manufacturers and dealers obtain higher levels of business performance in exclusive territories relationships, but we found no support for a direct effect of this vertical restraint on business performance. Instead, this effect is completely mediated by the higher levels of role performance associated with the exclusive territories agreement. Thus, empirical findings suggest that the economic outcomes achieved in ET relationships are due not to the presence of monopoly rents, but rather to the better role performance of the participants.     

Interorganizational alliances and the performance of firms: a study of growth and innovation rates in a high‐technology industry

This paper investigates the relationship between intercorporate technology alliances and firm performance. It argues that alliances are access relationships, and therefore that the advantages which a focal firm derives from a portfolio of strategic coalitions depend upon the resource profiles of its alliance partners. In particular, large firms and those that possess leading‐edge technological resources are posited to be the most valuable associates. The paper also argues that alliances are both pathways for the exchange of resources and signals that convey social status and recognition. Particularly when one of the firms in an alliance is a young or small organization or, more generally, an organization of equivocal quality, alliances can act as endorsements: they build public confidence in the value of an organization's products and services and thereby facilitate the firm's efforts to attract customers and other corporate partners. The findings from models of sales growth and innovation rates in a large sample of semiconductor producers confirm that organizations with large and innovative alliance partners perform better than otherwise comparable firms that lack such partners. Consistent with the status‐transfer arguments, the findings also demonstrate that young and small firms benefit more from large and innovative strategic alliance partners than do old and large organizations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

供应链关系资本对企业创新绩效的影响研究——基于需求拉动型吸收能力的视角

针对受国外技术和市场牵引较严重的4个制造类企业,构建了供应链关系资本、需求拉动型吸收能力和创新绩效三者间的概念模型,实施问卷调查,用结构方程模型验证假设。得到的结果表明:以信任为基础的供应链关系资本能够促进企业及时获取和掌握市场信息和技术知识,从而提高创新绩效。但是,样本企业供应链关系资本中的关系承诺维度对知识吸收的促进作用有待加强;需求拉动型吸收能力的知识转化和利用环节对于创新进程的促进作用有待提高。     

Network configuration,customer centricity,and performance of open business models: A solution provider perspective

While research has shown a positive impact of open business models on value creation, it has remained silent on the configuration of the corresponding partner networks and their effect on performance. Studying three cases of solution providers which involve external service partners for solution delivery, we find that solution customer centricity – the degree to which the focal firm focuses on solution customers in the joint delivery of solutions – moderates the relationship between partner networks and open business model performance. For open business models with low solution customer centricity, a network configuration characterized by many weak ties to service partners leads to superior performance. Conversely, for open business models with high solution customer centricity, few but strong ties to partners lead to superior performance. Based on these findings, three ideal configurations of networks for open business models are derived: the controlled, the joint, and the supported model.     

Effects of innovation types on firm performance

Innovation is broadly seen as an essential component of competitiveness, embedded in the organizational structures, processes, products and services within a firm. The objective of this paper is to explore the effects of the organizational, process, product and marketing innovations on the different aspects of firm performance, including innovative, production, market and financial performances, based on an empirical study covering 184 manufacturing firms in Turkey. A theoretical framework is empirically tested identifying the relationships amid innovations and firm performance through an integrated innovation-performance analysis. The results reveal the positive effects of innovations on firm performance in manufacturing industries.     

Inbound open innovation for enhanced performance: Enablers and opportunities

Open innovation, defined as a firm's purposive pursuit and integration of external inputs for new product development, offers an alternative perspective on innovation. Drawing on resource-based and capability theories, this study identifies key factors that enable inbound open innovation and increase its efficacy in a business-to-business context. Because open innovation relies on external connections, relational capability—that is, the firm's ability to make and manage relationships with other firms—should enhance the effects of inbound open innovation on firm performance. Two key resources may further enhance the moderating effects of relational capability: network spillovers that indicate knowledge-rich surroundings, and flexibility that allows for responsiveness and adaptability. The authors test these relationships with data from managers in 204 business-to-business high-tech firms, as well as secondary data pertaining to firm performance and flexibility. The results support the expectations that the ability to build interfirm relationships in a knowledge-rich environment increase the efficacy of inbound open innovation for gaining superior financial performance. Interestingly, additional analyses suggest an unexpected nonlinear interaction effect with flexibility. When firms possess strong relational capabilities and adopt an open innovation approach, they achieve higher financial performance if they have a low or a high level of flexibility. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.     

Boundary spanner multi-faceted role ambiguity and burnout: An exploratory study

Although researchers have gained considerable knowledge regarding the multi-faceted manifestation of burnout over recent years, inconsistent findings of role ambiguity as an antecedent to burnout are still prevalent. Given the complex boundary-spanning nature of sales, it is likely that global measures of role ambiguity fail to fully capture the domain and impact of role ambiguity. To help address this gap, this study provides initial evidence that facets of role ambiguity impact burnout manifestation in the sales role differently. Specifically, findings provide a foundation to help mitigate the negative impact of burnout by focusing on only certain facets of role ambiguity.     

Supplier traits for better customer firm innovation performance

Previous research on embedded ties with suppliers in an innovation context has ignored the need for customer firms to assess and select suppliers on the basis of market orientation strategies and relationship marketing attributes. To address this void, this study investigates the effects of suppliers' downstream customer orientation and supplier-customer homophily (i.e., similarity of the supplier and the customer) on the customers' innovation performance. Data pertaining to new product development projects with contributions from supplier firms was collected on both sides of the supplier-customer dyad. The analysis shows that downstream customer orientation and supplier-customer homophily have a significant impact on the customer firms' new product efficiency (i.e., project cost and project speed) and new product effectiveness (i.e., innovativeness), which in turn positively influence new product performance in terms of profitability, market share, and growth.     

Environment, governance, controls, and radical innovation during institutional transitions

Researchers pay only limited attention to the problem of drive force of radical innovation in institutional transitions, especially in China. Drawing on both institutional theory, managerial control theory, and innovation theory, this study examines the roles of external and internal drivers to firms?? radical innovation. Specifically, we examine the effects of external institutional environment and internal corporate governance on radical innovation by introducing management control systems. Based on data from a sample of 585 firms in China, this study finds that the effect of institutional environment uncertainty on radical innovation is significant but formal corporate governance is not. These results suggest that firms facing an uncertain institutional environment emphasize both financial control and strategic control, and firms that have adopted formal corporate governance prefer strategic control to financial control. The implications of these findings for research during institutional transitions are discussed.     

Leadership and organizational learning's role on innovation and performance: Lessons from Spain

Leadership style has been traditionally emphasized as one of the most important individual influences on firm innovation. Scholars are now paying growing attention to the possibility that the collective capability of organizational learning plays a key role in determining innovation. We propose that leadership style, an individual feature, and organizational learning, a collective process, simultaneously and positively affect firm innovation. A structural equation model and data from 408 large firms in four sectors supported our hypotheses. Organizational learning had a stronger direct influence on innovation than CEO transformational leadership for our sample; however, leadership had a strong, significant influence on organizational learning, indirectly affecting firm innovation. Additionally, innovation positively and significantly influenced performance. Organizational learning also positively affected performance, but interestingly mainly through innovation.     

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.     

The impact of state shares on corporate innovation strategy and performance in China

This paper examines the impact of state shares on corporate innovation strategy and performance in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Through an investigation of 541 publicly traded companies in five high-tech industries during the period between 2000 and 2005, we find that the presence of state shares have a positive effect on the corporate choice of a process innovation strategy over a product innovation one. However, this relationship is moderated by the overall ownership concentration ratio. Moreover, our findings suggest that companies with large state shares prefer to conduct innovations independently rather than collaboratively with others, and they usually achieve better innovation performance. These findings indicate that the government play a role as both an investor and a resource allocation coordinator and therefore complicate the relationship between ownership structure and corporate innovation activities.

Explaining alliance success: Competences, resources, relational factors, and resource-advantage theory

Business alliances, by filling critical resource gaps, enable firms to have positional advantages that lead to superior financial performance. Some alliances, however, are more successful than others. The three prominent theoretical approaches to explaining alliance success rely on resources, competences, and relational factors. The authors theorize that the three approaches are interdependent and, using resource-advantage (R-A) theory as a framework, develop an integrative model. This model proposes that the three approaches are linked by means of relationships among (1) alliance competence, (2) complementary resources, (3) idiosyncratic resources, and (4) cooperation. A test of the model, using a sample of alliance professionals, finds support for the theory that the three approaches are, indeed, interdependent and that resources, construed in the manner of R-A theory, influence alliance success through positional advantage.     

The role of institutional arbitrage in the search for product innovation: Firm level evidence from Norway

Evolutionary theorizing conceptualizes the discovery of new products as a successful outcome from searching for innovation in which firms combine new and old knowledge and resources. Prior research has shown that the propensity for discovering new products is greatest when firms cross a technological and/or organizational boundary in the search for new knowledge. In this paper, we add a new dimension to this literature: we examine whether, and to what extent, crossing a national boundary, as when firms use knowledge from network partners in foreign countries, influences the likelihood that firms will introduce new products into the market. Drawing on theorizing on institutional arbitrage in the literature on national innovation systems (NIS) and varieties of capitalism (VOC), we propose that companies that cross a national boundary in searching for innovation are significantly more likely to introduce new products. Detailed survey data on firms; data on their network partners, including their location; and regression analysis show that the use of knowledge from actors in foreign NIS has a positive influence on product innovation.