Recessionary period activities in forest sector firms: Impacts on innovativeness

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) provides a unique setting to study innovativeness and customer orientation in forest sector firms. Considerable research has focused generally on innovativeness in forest sector firms, but little attention has been given to the actions of firms to the chaotic market environment during the GFC. Our objective is to clarify how a customer orientation and the practice of developing new markets during a market downturn results in enhanced knowledge-based resources, manifested as increased innovativeness. Our longitudinal design includes data representing 2012 and 2015 from 89, US-based forest sector firms. Responding firms are more focused on process than product innovativeness. During the GFC, responding firms concentrated more on foreign market development than on domestic market development. Firms with a stronger customer orientation in response to the GFC realized higher innovativeness post-GFC. Also, firms actively developing new foreign markets in response to the GFC realized higher process innovativeness. Our results support a stronger customer focus for forest sector firms as it translates to increased innovativeness and potentially improved product development. In addition, allocating resources to foreign market development during financial downturns can be a strategy to build innovativeness.     

消费者创新性研究综述

从消费者创新性理论研究长期关注和存有争议的概念、维度、度量模型及前因和后果等方面,对消费者创新性理论的研究成果进行梳理、比较与分析,尽可能去除模糊不清的认识。     

高新技术企业融资方式、治理结构与技术创新能力关系研究

高新技术产业的发展对全球经济产生了重要的推动作用,但对于高新技术企业而言,制约其发展的一个重要障碍就是融资问题。风险投资是一种特殊的投资形式,与传统的债务融资对比,风险投资不仅为企业提供必要资金,还会参与企业的内部管理,对企业的治理结构产生影响,进而影响企业的技术创新能力。     

企业自主创新若干问题探讨

本文分析了我国企业自主创新提出的时代背景,在评析相关研究成果的基础上,对企业自主创新做了新的界定,探讨了企业自主创新的方式和途径,以及企业创新的运行机制和发展趋势。     

Effects of user perceptions associated with perceived playfulness on their attitude toward using a netbook

A netbook, Internet-enabled and with extra portability, has been fast-growing in the domain of information technology （IT） in recent years. Compared with standardized laptops or desktop computers, a netbook＇s key features include a shrunken-down and lightweight laptop that is ＂easy to learn, easy to work, and easy to play＂. This research is to empirically test the influence of user perceptions of this new form of IT （usability, compatibility and relative advantage） associated with playfulness and attitude toward purchase intention. In addition, personal innovativeness of an individual plays an important role in the antecedents of such perceptions. A test of this model, two-stage approach, confirmatory factor analysis （CFA） and structural equation model （SEM） are employed to validate the casual model from among 227 usable respondents who have been using a laptop for more than two years. Results showed support for eleven of twelve research hypotheses, and one new path linking personal innovativeness with attitude toward using is found to be non-siznificant.     

Network capability,innovativeness, and performance: a multidimensional extension for entrepreneurship

Abstract

Small- and start-up firms in the high-tech industry usually engage in networking to overcome resource, knowledge, and competence constraints in creative, innovation-based competition. Quite often, however, network relationships fail due to lack of network capability (NC), defined as the ability to manage and gain benefits from external relationships. In the present study, we propose and examine an updated five-dimension NC construct and test its effect on innovativeness and performance. Two independent high-tech samples of small firms and start-ups support measurement properties of the proposed NC construct and suggest that the often-overlooked dimension in NC research of network relationship building is important to include in a complete NC construct. Doing so can help explain organizational innovativeness and effects on the customer, sales, and innovation performance more effectively. As a result, we find support for the proposed NC scale and the importance of network capabilities for small companies and start-ups to remain competitive.     

How process improvement efforts can drive organisational innovativeness

In this study, we draw upon literature in technology and innovation management to theorise about how process improvement efforts in organisations can drive the exploratory activity that is generally associated with more radical forms of innovation. We develop a set of propositions on how process improvement efforts might directly and indirectly drive exploration and more radical forms of organisational innovation. These propositions are organised into four categories: (1) ‘Direct’ – how exploratory forms of process improvement can directly drive innovativeness; (2) ‘Resource Capacity’ – how process improvement can increase the resource capacity that drives innovativeness; (3) ‘Knowledge’ – how process improvement efforts can strengthen knowledge resources that drive innovativeness; and (4) ‘Management Vision’ – how process improvement efforts can influence the managerial vision that moderates the effect of process improvement efforts on innovativeness.     

Airline passengers’ continuance intention towards online check-in services: The role of personal innovativeness and subjective knowledge

This study integrates the individual psychology constructs (personal innovativeness and subjective knowledge) with the Technology Acceptance Model to develop and test a model of airline passengers’ continuance intention towards online flight check-in services. Predictions were tested with data from a sample of airline passengers in China who have experienced the online check-in service. The findings of this study demonstrate that airline passengers’ innovativeness and subjective knowledge have a direct effect on continuance intention, and an indirect effect through partial mediation of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Organizational Culture,Innovativeness, Market Orientation and Firm Performance in South Africa: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

ABSTRACT

For a sample of South African firms, this paper analyzes the relationships of firm performance and a set of organizational measures which includes organizational culture and climate, market orientation and innovativeness. These organizational measures are drawn from three different disciplines–organizational behavior, strategy and economics. The replicative study is framed in an extended model of competing organizational values which have been used in 13 countries including three transition economies (Vietnam, China and Russia). The work has also been done under a variety of conditions–for example, the US in a period of study growth, Thailand during the Asian Crisis and Hong Kong after the handover to China. Comparisons are made between South African results and those of firms from a group of five industrial countries. Market Orientation is the most important explainer of performance of the South African firms, and Innovativeness is also important. Specific elements of Organizational Culture are apparently less important in South Africa than elsewhere.