The role of contracts and intellectual property rights in open innovation

Our exploratory empirical study, based on interviews and a survey of firms, addresses a number of questions on the role of formal contracts and intellectual property rights (IPR) in the context of firm-to-firm open innovation (OI). We find that firms active in OI have a very strong preference for the governance of their OI relationships with other firms through formal contracts. Also, despite the open nature of OI, firms still see IPR as highly relevant to the protection of their innovative capabilities. We find the degree of openness of firms, their formal legal attitude, and the competitive dynamics of their product market environment to be related to the preference of OI firms for IPR. Furthermore, the strength of firms’ internal R&D capabilities increases the positive relationship between openness and the preference for IPR.     

Organisational change in new ventures in Chinese context: the open innovation

This paper uses case study method to examine the acquisition process of information and funding through the implementation of open innovation (OI) in new ventures in Chinese context. We find that in the process of accessing to the marketing or technical information through OI, the most important thing for enterprises is to establish trust and cooperation with familiar partners, and trust is derived from existing social relations. In the process of funding acquisition through OI, the most important thing for enterprises is to strike a balance between gains and losses.     

Innovation and knowledge sharing in crowdfunding: how social dynamics affect project success

The aim of this study is to contribute to the existing literature on innovation and knowledge sharing in crowdfunding, by exploring the importance of internal social capital, and how the previous failure of a campaign may lead to the success of a second one from the same project creator. Thus, the research question of the study is: how do social dynamics affect project success in a crowdfunding context? The paper reports an illustrative case study which has been promoted on the Kickstarter platform. The authors analysed data, documentation and physical artefacts, especially regarding the network size during the funding period. The results show that the self-learning which project creators gain from previous failure supports them in relaunching their crowdfunding campaign. However, various revisions take place during the second campaign (e.g. social capital size, product redesign and knowledge sharing) to achieve success.     

Which factors hinder the adoption of open innovation in SMEs?

The literature on open innovation (OI) is characterised by studies based both on large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Among all, one of the less explored issues in SMEs is what impedes them to adopt OI. Thus, this paper has the threefold objective to identify which factors hinder the adoption of OI in SMEs, to investigate if different behaviours exist among SMEs in relation to these factors, and to understand if the same factors effectively influence the level of adoption of OI. Based on a survey on 157 Italian SMEs, we identified four main barriers (namely, ‘knowledge’, ‘collaboration’, ‘organisational’, and ‘financial and strategic’) and three profiles of firms, different in terms of innovativeness of the industries they belong to (knowledge intensive, medium-innovative, and less innovative) and hampering factors perceived (‘knowledge’, ‘financial and strategic’, and ‘collaboration’ and ‘organisational’ barriers). Moreover, we found that some of these factors effectively impede the adoption of the paradigm.     

The relative importance of human resource management practices for innovation

Human resource management (HRM) practices are generally expected to stimulate a firm's innovation performance. However, which of these practices really pay off? Based on a unique dataset that includes detailed information for both a firm's innovation activities and a broad set of HRM practices, we find that primarily new workplace organization practices seem to enhance a firm's innovation activities. Flexible practices of working time management and incentive payment schemes show only small effects on both innovation propensity and innovation success. Further training does only affect innovation success, but not innovation propensity. Overall, we find a stronger linkage between HRM practices and innovation propensity than with innovation success. Further, we find that innovation propensity increases, first, with the number of combinations of HRM practices adopted by a firm but not with the number of combinations of HRM practices from different groups of HRM practices adopted by a firm.     

Reappraisal of outbound open innovation under the policy of China’s ‘Market for Technology’

China’s ‘Market for Technology’ policy has attracted much interest over the past decade. In light of a relative emphasis on the spillover effects of joint ventures, this study examines the transferring effects of Multinationals’ (MNCs) outbound open innovation in such a context. A survey of 2071 research and development (R&D) contract transactions between Chinese entities and MNCs indicates both internal factors (e.g. organisational capabilities) and external factors (e.g. the role of Intellectual Property protection) affect the transferring effects, which reformulate the focus of the Policy from the relational dimension of ‘Government vs. MNCs’ to the transactional dimension of ‘Domestic entities vs. MNCs’. We thus conclude that MNCs’ active initiative in the involvement of technology transfer and the success of domestic transaction partners combine to contribute to the technology progress within China’s ‘Market for Technology’ policy.     

Institutional and organizational trajectories in social economy enterprises: Resilience,transformation and regeneration

Social economy enterprises (SEEs) are arousing notable interest as promising alternatives where social innovation, business ownership and governance are concerned. In this context, a renewed debate about the internal changes and organizational trajectories experienced by these organizations has emerged in the scholarly literature. This special issue aims to contribute to ongoing debates in this field by advancing our understanding of the external pressures and internal dynamics that can trigger degeneration in SEEs, the conditions and factors that allow SEEs preserving their hallmark values and practices, and the resources and processes of organizational change that SEEs can deploy to overcome degeneration and regenerate. In this editorial introduction we introduce the topic of research, describe the content of the current special issue, and highlight some conclusions and possible directions for future research.     

Why are social enterprises good candidates for social innovation? Looking for personal and institutional drivers of innovation

The last few years witnessed theoretical and practical contributions to the field of social innovation and social enterprise. However, analysis of the interplay between these two different realms is still limited. This article aims to fill some gaps in this respect. We deal with historical reconstruction of the concept of Social Enterprise and Social Innovation, and their conceptual premises. We consider the process of creation of social innovation in social enterprises. As members’ motivations, ownership rights and governance rules in social enterprises create a new relational context and new routines, which are germane to the production of social knowledge and deliberation, social innovation can be considered one of the main outcomes of this setting. Social motivations, collective action of a cooperative kind, multi‐stakeholder governance and socialization of resources, and their interplay are singled out as main drivers of innovation. Social innovation is seen as akin to novelty in social interaction, a non‐standardized and non‐standardizable outcome of the operation of this organizational form.     

What influences the diffusion of grassroots innovations for sustainability? Investigating community currency niches

Community action for sustainability is a promising site of socio-technical innovation. Here we test the applicability of co-evolutionary niche theories of innovation diffusion (strategic niche management, SNM) to the context of ‘grassroots innovations’ (GIs). We present new empirical findings from an international study of 12 community currency niches (such as Local Exchange Trading Schemes, time banks, and local currencies). These are parallel systems of exchange, designed to operate alongside mainstream money, meeting additional sustainability needs. Our findings confirm SNM predictions that niche-level activity correlates with diffusion success, but we highlight additional or confounding factors, and how niche theories might be adapted to better fit civil society innovations. In so doing, we develop a model of GI niche diffusion which extends existing work and tailors it to this specific context. The paper concludes with a series of theoretically informed recommendations for practitioners and policy-makers to support the development and potential of GIs.     

Assessing complementarity in organizational innovations for technological innovation: the role of knowledge management practices

We empirically investigate the pattern of complementarity among four organizational practices. Firm-level data were drawn from the Community Innovation Survey, carried out in Luxembourg. Supermodularity tests confirm the crucial role of organizational innovation in raising firms’ technological innovation. The pattern of complementarity across organizational practices differs according to the type of innovation (i.e. product or process), as well as according to whether the firm is in the first stage of its innovation process (i.e. being innovative or not) or in a later stage (i.e. sales of new products).     

Users and radical innovation performance: the moderating role of the organisational context

This study investigates four key factors of the internal organisational context that moderate the relationship between connecting with users and radical innovation performance: performance management, autonomy, internal networking and organisation and culture to support innovation. These components define a firm's organisational context. A sample of Austrian- and Italian-based firms shows that the connecting with users–radical innovation performance relationship is amplified at higher levels of all the investigated elements of the organisational context. The authors discuss the study's implications as well as future research directions.     

The effect of external partner heterogeneity on open innovation: the moderating role of the technological regime

There is widespread agreement that open innovation (OI) is strongly influenced by external partner heterogeneity. While previous studies have examined partner heterogeneity using quantitative analysis, the implications of a weighted assignment using an external partner heterogeneity index have received less attention. The purpose of this study is to develop a modified partner heterogeneity model. Specifically, using a questionnaire survey of Chinese firms, we develop a new method to measure partner organisational heterogeneity (POH). Then, the moderating factors of an industry's technological environment, termed the technological regime, are introduced. The empirical analysis shows that the technological regime is positively correlated with POH and OI performance. Hence, an advanced technological regime improves POH and OI performance by incorporating external resources and increasing innovation potential.     

Dynamic control of a monopolist’s product and process innovation with reference quality

ABSTRACT

Our main purpose is to investigate the dynamic control problem of a monopolist’s product and process innovation under reference quality. The main features of this article are: (i) a monopolist dealing with customer behaviour in the spirit of the principle of behaviour economics determines the product price, and carries out the activities of product and process innovation; (ii) the consumers’ demand depends on price, product quality and reference quality, and adopts an additive separable demand function form. Our main results show that under the cases of the monopolist optimum and the social planner optimum, (i) there exists an unique stable, which is a saddle-point steady-state equilibrium; (ii) the change rates of the monopolist’s investments in product and process innovation are increasing with the reference quality, while the monopolist’s steady-state investments in product and process innovation are decreasing with the reference quality; (iii) as the memory parameter increases with other parameters kept constant, it is very likely that the monopolist’s investment in process innovation be greater than the investment in product innovation; and (iv) the social incentive towards both investments in product and process innovation is always larger than the private incentive characterizing the profit-seeking monopolist.     

A framework of disruptive sustainable innovation: an example of the Finnish food system

Disruptive innovations are perceived necessary for accelerating sustainability transitions. However, it is not always clear what exactly is meant by it, what is to be disrupted, and by whom. Socio-technical transition research on pays too much attention at the technological niche-innovations in the production, and overlooks business model innovation and user practices in the consumption, whilst management literature on disruptive innovation falls short in the scale and scope of disruption in terms of systemic outcome. Thus, the first aim of the paper is to synthesise the extant literature and put forward a general practice-based view on disruptive sustainable innovation. The second aim of the paper is to use empirical data to elaborate the theoretical framework in the Finnish food system context. Four firm-level cases provide empirical scrutiny to each type of disruptive sustainable innovation in the food system and shed light on the interlinked practices of producer-entrepreneurs and citizen-consumers.     

Product innovation: testing the relative influence of industry,institutional context and firm factors

This article analyses the influence of industry characteristics (concentration and technological opportunity), the institutional framework (social capital and spillovers from the public sector) and some firm factors (external and internal R&D) on product innovation in a unique integrated framework. Based on a sample of Spanish industrial firms, these variables were found to be positively related to firms’ product innovation. Also, results show that in institutional environments with significant levels of social capital and spillovers, firms change their innovation strategy focusing on external R&D.     

Degree of innovativeness and new product performance

The relationship between innovativeness and innovations’ success still remains unclear. This lack of consensus stems from a confusion between customer familiarity with the innovation and synergy with the focal firm's existing set of resources and competencies, to explain performance, as well as from the use of different measurement methods. On the basis of a sample of 114 innovation projects in small and medium-sized french companies, using our own measurement method, we show a U-shaped relationship between customer familiarity and performance, and a negative relation, as expected, between newness to the company and the innovation's performance.     

社交电商平台颠覆性创新的触发机制研究——基于拼多多的案例研究

以社交电商平台拼多多为研究对象，开展探索性单案例研究，将其颠覆性创新分为切入下沉市场、侵蚀主流市场两阶段，分析其通过技术创新和商业模式创新匹配共演实现颠覆性创新的路径，在已有研究基础上，构建颠覆性创新触发机制模型。结果表明：第一，在颠覆性创新过程中，技术创新和商业模式创新是匹配共演的，二者在匹配共演下形成螺旋上升的循环链。第二，颠覆性创新要分阶段实现，其触发机制包括前置条件、突破口及驱动因素；在不同阶段，技术创新和商业模式创新分别作为前置条件和突破口，内外部环境作为驱动因素。第三，在颠覆性创新过程中，企业必须充分考虑内外部环境的驱动作用，注重内部技术创新能力、企业战略及外部市场竞争、市场需要。     

Influence of open innovation strategies on employment dynamics: evidence for Spanish manufacturing firms

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we explore the influence of different modes of openness of innovative firms on employment growth. Using a panel database of Spanish manufacturing firms during the period 1998–2015, we analyze the influence open innovation (OI) strategies on employment distinguishing by type of external partner. The main objective of the research is to know whether opening innovation strategy contributes to employment taken into account another firm capabilities and sectorial technological opportunities. For this purpose, a two-step procedure is specified. Firstly, a random-effect computes the effects of OI on the innovation probability. In the second step, the variation of innovativeness due to openness on GMM-system estimation controlling by potential endogeneity and unobserved firm heterogeneity is used. The results support that the influence of open strategy on employment growth is positive. Moreover, the employment depends on the breadth of OI measured by the number of out-inbound relationships. Finally, the employment consequences are different for each mode of open strategy.     

Linking corporate sustainability and innovation in supply chain management – evidence of a Taiwan leading glass recycling company

This empirical study presents a combination of insights from corporate sustainability practices, supply chain management, and innovation literature, and a case study to discover new understandings on factors influencing firms to incorporate sustainable innovation initiatives into their supply chain practices. There is an apparent lack of literature in this field due to its modernity and evolving nature. Also, there is a lack of insights into how firms could translate sustainable innovation initiatives into practice. This study addresses this gap by examining a successful glass recycling company through the lenses of sustainable innovation context and the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guideline framework. Primary data are collected through observations and in-depth interview before it is coded and analysed using nVivo. The findings show that sustainable innovation practices are mainly directed at improving the technological processes, resource sharing, and reduction of production cost among supply chain partners. A conceptual sustainable innovation framework is also proposed. This study contributes to sustainable innovation literature by providing insights into the evaluation of a firm's innovative sustainability efforts.     

The relationship between innovation network and innovation capability: a social network perspective

The key for acquiring innovation capability is knowledge transmission which is primarily based on the closer and tighter connections among businesses and other actors within innovation networks. Previous literature of patent analysis based on social network only explains the most influential corporations within an industry through social network indicators, but did not investigate the impact of these indicators on a firm’s innovation capability. This study uses social network perspective ‘centrality, cohesion and density’ to investigate the relationship between innovation network and innovation capability in the global semiconductor industry. Two purposes of this study are: (1) to investigate the innovation network relationship within the semiconductor industry at different periods and its evolution and (2) to study whether network position occupied by a firm in innovation network influences innovation capability. The empirical results show that firms with higher centrality and higher density have stronger innovation capability, but the weaker innovation capability with closer connection of sub-cluster (cohesion).