The positive effects of relationship learning and absorptive capacity on innovation performance and competitive advantage in industrial markets

This study utilized structural equations modeling (SEM) to explore the positive effects of relationship learning and absorptive capacity on competitive advantages of companies through their innovation performances in Taiwanese manufacturing industry. The results of this study showed that relationship learning and absorptive capacity positively influence upon innovation performances of companies, and further have positive effects on competitive advantages of companies. In addition, this study divided the sample into three groups by the levels of relationship learning and absorptive capacity and found that there was a significant difference of innovation performance among these three groups: ‘Highly Capable Companies’, ‘Medially Capable Companies’, and ‘Lowly Capable Companies’. It is important for ‘Lowly Capable Companies’ to increase both of their relationship learning and absorptive capacity to enhance their innovation performances.     

Competitive Advantage Through Product Performance Innovation in a Competitive Market

Superior product performance does not necessarily ensure commercial success. In many industries, companies seek competitive advantage primarily through product innovation. Competition in such markets is based on claims of technological superiority. However, unless a company can clearly establish the superiority of its products in its customers' minds, a differentiation strategy based on relative product performance is likely to be ineffective. This is particularly true in markets characterized by numerous product introductions from many competitors.
Product innovation success declines as the intensity of market competition increases. This may be caused by customers' inability to differentiate products on the basis of functional performance. John H. Friar tests this hypothesis by examining an industry, medical diagnostic ultrasound equipment, that is characterized by frequent product introductions from numerous companies.
Technical experts from the competing manufacturers believe there are differences in the image quality of their equipment and strongly agree on the factors that distinguish better performance. In most cases, however, customers could not distinguish product performance. Ironically, in a market where everyone is competing by improving product performance, product performance innovation alone may not be enough to create meaningful differentiation.
To succeed in such an environment, companies must compete on two levels. Continued emphasis on product innovation is necessary to keep pace with the competition. However, because product innovation alone is not sufficient to provide market differentiation, companies must shift their competitive thrust to other dimensions.     

Innovation policy in progress. Institutional intermediation in public procurement of innovation: satellite telecommunications in Italy

This paper aims to explore a mechanism of institutional intermediation to sustain public procurement of innovation. By exploring the development of innovative solutions for telecommunications satellites in Italy, this study proposes an analytical view on the role of supporting institutions in public procurement of innovation and discusses the relation between the source of public demand and the contracting companies. Eventually, it argues that a public agency can manage funds, coordinate companies’ technological capabilities, and stimulate a sense of cooperation to achieve innovation. The research finds originality in bringing the growing theory concerning public procurement into a dynamic institutional setting to discuss the emerging role of the public competent costumer. The case-analysis shows how institutionalization of an innovation intermediary enables efficient procurement. Propositions prescribe powerful instruments for dealing with market uncertainty and technological complexity, and find the agency to act as a knowledge intermediary and companies coordinator.     

Does an extrinsic reward for R&D employees enhance innovation outcomes? Evidence from a Japanese innovation survey

This paper examines the effects of extrinsic rewards for R&D employees on innovation outcomes based on evidence from a Japanese innovation survey. Theoretical and empirical studies present conflicting findings regarding the relationship between extrinsic rewards and innovation outcomes. This article seeks to shed light on the relationship between rewards and outcomes, as represented by the development of new products and services and their technological superiority and profitability. The analysis produced the following findings. First, companies that have introduced an evaluation system based on R&D performance are more likely to develop new products and services. The introduction of the evaluation system brings about success in product innovation with greater technological superiority. Second, monetary compensation has a negative impact on the development of new products and services and technological superiority. Third, these effects vary with the company size. Small- and medium-sized companies achieve higher technological superiority with performance-based evaluations. Large companies tend to adversely impact the development of new products and services and their technological superiority with monetary compensation.     

Competitive strategies and new technology: an empirical investigation in the UK polymer processing industry

This paper examines how companies can achieve competitive advantage by fitting their business strategies to the way in which new technology implementation is managed. In particular, the inter-relationship between strategy, technology and performance is examined. Five strategic types and seven types of technological objectives were used to find combinations which were associated with high performance. It was found that companies pursuing a prospector strategy (a strategy based on product innovation) combined with technological objectives emphasizing marketing, image and technical development were the highest performing group of companies. The lowest performing companies were those where strategy was dominated by price competition.
The general conclusion of the paper is that, in order to achieve competitive advantage, companies need to see technology objectives as an inherent part of strategy. The study was carried out on a sample of twenty companies within the polymer processing industry, but the findings should be applicable to companies in other industries, and particularly to smaller companies.     

Non-technical innovation: Organizational memory and learning capabilities as antecedent factors with effects on sustained competitive advantage

The aim of the present study is to analyze the role of organizational memory and learning capabilities as antecedents to non-technical innovation, comprising organizational and marketing innovation, and to examine their effect on sustained competitive advantage within a capabilities-based view (CBV) theoretical framework. For analysis of the proposed theoretical model, 159 industrial companies in Spain were sampled and a system of structural equations was modeled using partial least squares methodology. The results confirm that both organizational memory and learning capabilities favor the development of organizational innovation and marketing innovation. Furthermore, the paper shows that both types of non-technical innovation promote the achievement of sustained competitive advantage.     

The effect of U.K. incentives on R&D activities in U.S.-owned electronics companies in Scotland

The British Government provides numerous financial assistance programmes to assist electronics companies in funding investment projects, R&D activities, and applications of new technology. Interviews were conducted at fifteen U.S. electronics subsidiaries in Scotland to determine the effect of these government incentives in promoting technology and innovation. Results indicate that capital investment grants were widely used, but that financial aid schemes to encourage R&D and the adoption of advanced technology have no bearing on technical characteristics and decisions at the affiliates.     

War for talents—How perceived organizational innovativeness affects employer attractiveness

Recruiting high potentials is the foundation for creating knowledge, innovation and competitive advantages. Unfortunately, many companies face the problem of having a hard time recruiting high potentials in a tightening labor market. To secure future innovation, growth and competitiveness companies must be attractive for potential employees. Within this respect, past research suggests that innovative companies might be at an advantage as they appear more attractive to employees in general and to those with an innovative personality in specific. Hence, HR communication might use an organization's innovativeness within employer branding to attract high potentials. However, current literature falls short to provide empirical evidence on whether and how the communication of organizational innovativeness affects employer attractiveness and especially attracts innovative employees. The results of our scenario-based experiment (n = 322) show that organizations with an innovative product portfolio and a strong innovation culture appear more attractive to potential employees. These effects turned out to be even stronger for employees which are highly innovative as they care a great deal about the organizational innovativeness of the company they work for. Thus, our findings suggest that communicating organizational innovativeness within employer branding is an effective measure not only to improve employer perceptions in general, but also to attract innovative employees.     

The role of intermediaries in cross‐industry innovation processes

In this article, we investigate the role intermediaries play in the cross‐industry innovation process. Intermediaries are external institutions that support companies in their innovative activities. They are frequently used to bridge gaps between different industries. Our research focuses on the question of which capabilities an intermediary should have in order to achieve success in initiating a cross‐industry innovation. Our empirical base consists of a survey of 107 European manufacturing companies and an analysis of six collaborative cross‐industry innovation projects. The company survey is used to identify the capabilities an intermediary should have during each of the three phases of the innovation process. The cross‐industry projects, each of which involves a Swiss or a German industrial company and an intermediary, provide us with analyzable data. We conclude our study by identifying three types of intermediary: the innovation broadener, the innovation leverager, and the innovation multiplier.     

Innovation management techniques and tools: a review from theory and practice

Knowledge is considered to be an economic driver in today's economy. It has become a commodity, a resource that can be packed and transferred. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the scope, trends and major actors (firms, organizations, government, consultants, academia, etc.) in the development and use of methods to manage innovation in a knowledge-driven economy. The paper identifies the main innovation management techniques (IMTs) aiming at the improvement of firm competitiveness by means of knowledge management. It will specifically focus on those IMTs for which knowledge is a relevant part of the innovation process. The research study, based on a survey at the European level, concludes that a knowledge-driven economy affects the innovation process and approach. The traditional idea that innovation is based on research (technology-push theory) and interaction between firms and other actors has been replaced by the current social network theory of innovation, where knowledge plays a crucial role in fostering innovation. Simultaneously, organizations in both public and private sectors have launched initiatives to develop methodologies and tools to support business innovation management. Higher education establishments, business schools and consulting companies are developing innovative and adequate methodologies and tools, while public authorities are designing and setting up education and training schemes aimed at disseminating best practices among all kinds of businesses.     

上市公司关联交易对盈余管理影响的实证研究

本文在对国内外相关理论及研究成果分析的基础上,结合我国上市公司关联交易的现实情况,提出四个假设,采用修正的横截面Jones模型度量上市公司的盈余管理程度,通过实证检验,证实了目前我国上市公司中仍存在关联交易盈余管理行为。实证结果显示,以往占很大比例的关联方商品和劳务购销形式的盈余管理越来越趋于淡化,而关联方资金占用与盈余管理呈显著的正相关,反映出目前我国上市公司利用关联交易进行盈余管理的方式正在发生变化。同时,实证结果表明,资产负债率与盈余管理存在着显著的正相关关系。     

Product Shape as a Design Innovation Strategy

Product design has become an effective competitive tool in the hands of a number of companies. Marvin Berkowitz discusses the impact of design variations on a proven winner in the marketplace. This article discusses the use of product shape as an element of innovation strategy in food processing. Can this particular design dimension be used to achieve differentiation from competitive products? The article explores how one company is attempting to capitalize on consumer trends for fitness and nutrition by designing its products with natural looking shapes. The research more generally probes how easy to spot design cues, like shape, are used by consumers to infer more important, but less readily accessible attributes like taste, softness, comfort and speed. Good design not only adds sales appeal, but encourages trading up, provides a basis for market segmentation, and for building a larger line from the same engineering investment.     

The management of technological innovation in the machine tool industry: a cross-national regional survey of Britain and Switzerland

Abstract
The research was undertaken during 1983 to find out why a country such as Switzerland has been able to manage innovation in a mature industry, such as machine tools, much more successfully than Britain. The methodology used was by structured interviews of Managing Directors in a sample of firms in the two important machine tool regions of Berne and Yorkshire/Humberside. The results cover the main types of innovation in products and processes, the reasons for innovation and the problems which were encountered by the companies visited. We found that the Swiss firms were strong on product innovation. The most important innovation was the introduction of computer numerical control (CNC), and the Swiss firms had on average introduced this earlier than the British firms and it accounted for a larger proportion of their turnover. The main problem for firms in both countries was in adjusting to upstream developments in electronic controls. The Swiss had better downstream market links with their customers who were mostly in foreign countries. Some British firms were handicapped by being part of company groups and used public sector grants for their innovation, whereas the largely independent Swiss firms carried out more self-financing.     

Diffusing knowledge-based core competencies for leveraging innovation strategies: Modelling outsourcing to knowledge process organizations (KPOs) in pharmaceutical networks

As pharmaceutical firms try to market their products and reduce costs, vertically integrated structures hamper innovation processes. Yet, pharmaceutical firms must innovate to compete. Outsourcing knowledge intensive activities to knowledge process organizations (KPOs) serves to reduce innovation process obstacles. Grounded in diffusion theory and strategic management literature, this conceptual paper explores four interrelated strategic concepts: core competencies, economies of scale and scope, knowledge sharing, and learning. This paper claims that (a) accumulated core competencies of multinational pharmaceutical companies (MPCs) erode over time and these companies become dependent on KPOs (b) MPCs must understand how KPOs manage core competencies (c) economies of scope benefit KPOs enabling them to sustain competitive advantages for their MPC partners, meanwhile the benefits from economies of both scale and scope shift from MPCs to KPOs (d) KPOs need to monitor their rate of learning to remain competitive. The paper identifies implications for industrial managers and directions for future research.     

Strategy transformation through strategic innovation capability – a case study of Fanuc

This paper presents a theoretical framework under which large companies should be able to bring about strategy transformation. First, we present the concept of ‘strategic innovation capability’, a corporate system capability to achieve corporate strategy transformation by strategic innovation. Then, we consider strategic innovation capability by comparing it with previous theories (dynamic capability, major innovation, dynamic capability, breakthrough innovation capability). Second, we present the case example of strategy transformation at Fanuc, a company that holds the top global share in the numerical control (NC) market. In this case study research, we consider and analyze historically how the company aimed for new creativity in the NC market, developed innovative NC technology for the machine tool market, and used that technology energetically for commercialized products. From the strategic innovation capability framework, the core theory of this paper, we also analyze and consider how top management made conscious efforts to form a new development organization within the company, and the processes involved in achieving strategy transformation to establish competitive superiority in this field. Finally, we discuss the implications drawn from this case analysis, and the issues for future research.     

Exploring the contribution of management innovation to the evolution of dynamic capabilities

Companies that find innovative ways to manage capabilities gain competitive advantages. The results of multiple case studies of capital goods manufacturing companies suggest that management innovation contributes to dynamic capabilities. The findings confirm the importance of sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring as dynamic capabilities. Management innovation differs in terms of whether it contributes to sensing, seizing, or reconfiguring. The findings describe issues of management innovation, such as key change agents and utilization (motivation, invention, implementation, as well as theorizing and labeling), which facilitate sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring. Maintaining capability-driven competitive advantages is not limited to the innovation of products and services, but should also address management innovation that drives dynamic capabilities. The present study relies on a novel conceptualization of dynamic capabilities through management innovation. This conceptualization advances theory-building on the issue of dynamic capabilities.     

Open social innovation dynamics and impact: exploratory study of a fab lab network

The aim of this research is to explore the dynamics and impact of open social innovation, within the context of fab labs and makerspaces. Using an exploratory methodology based on 12 semi‐structured interviews of fab lab founders belonging to The Centres for Maker Innovation and Technology (CMIT) programme – a network of 170 fab labs located in Eastern Europe – this research explores the impact of an adopting an open approach in relation to the different stages of social innovation (prompts, proposals, prototypes, sustaining, scaling and diffusion, systemic change) as well as social impact. The main results of this study are that while the CMIT programme provided each fab lab with similar initial conditions (identical funding, objectives and rules), the open social innovation approached adopted enabled to give birth to a wide diversity of fab labs, each being very well adapted to the local environment, social needs and constraints and able to deliver social impact in just a matter of years; a result that would be hard to achieve with a centralised top‐down approach. The study identified three types of CMITs – Education, Industry and Residential – which could be similar or different depending on the stage of social open innovation. Furthermore, this paper discusses the main difficulties social entrepreneurs encounter as a part of the open social innovation process, as well as means to overcome them. In this respect, this study adds to the literature on fab labs by providing more comprehensive view of the challenges faced by fab labs (and makerspaces) founders, as well as suggestions of strategies enabling to ensure their long‐term sustainability.     

行善的内裤

PantstoPoverty创新的商业模式告诉我们,时尚可以成为改变世界的美丽工具。 作为不能像超人一样将内裤穿在外面的普罗大众,一条内裤就是基本生活必需品而已,其基本属性是舒适和私密,还会有什么其他的意义吗？     

Recombination for innovation: performance outcomes from international partnerships in China

This paper examines the relationship between different types of international partnerships and innovation performance. By drawing on a conceptual framework which outlines how new bundles of transferrable and nontransferrable ownership advantages are created from such partnerships (Collinson and Narula, 2014 ), we analyze empirical evidence from a large‐scale survey of 320 individual company responses from the China‐based operations of foreign multinational firms alongside in‐depth case studies. Our study reveals that different types of collaborative partnerships (cooperative vs. competitive) are associated with different innovation performance outcomes (product vs. process innovation). In addition, we find that a sustainable, reciprocal relationship between collaborative partners can generate superior innovation performance. Contextual factors including the role of government and industry characteristics have an important bearing on innovation performance in collaborative partnerships in China. We conclude with implications for researchers, managers, and policymakers.     

Industrial services, product innovations, and firm profitability: A multiple-group latent growth curve analysis

Manufacturers in many industries seek service-led growth beyond their product core. Yet research on the link between service revenue growth and firm profitability is still at an early stage. To shed further light on this complex relationship, we report the results of a longitudinal study based on panel data of 414 companies in the German mechanical engineering industry collected over a five-year period. Employing latent growth curve modeling and using multiple group analysis, the study provides empirical evidence for the causality between service infusion strategies and manufacturers' profit trajectories. The results also reveal differential effects of service categories and the moderating role of manufacturers' product innovation efforts. For companies with high product innovation activity, services supporting the product (SSPs) directly increase firm profitability, while services supporting the clients' actions (SSCs) do not display any link with long-term profitability. Conversely, for companies with low product innovation activity, SSCs have a significant, positive effect on firm profitability, while SSPs have only an indirect effect. In sum, our findings caution managers that service offerings do not automatically improve company profits. Manufacturers must carefully consider the fit between their service offerings and product innovation activities to grow bottom line results.