Narrow Results

We reassess the respective gains from R&D cooperation and competition in a Cournot duopoly where firms adopt a concave cost-reducing R&D technology. Cooperation, in the form of either a cartel or a joint venture, is always profitable for firms and, contrary to the previous literature on the same topic, (i) no corner solutions emerge and (ii) R&D cooperation is socially superior to independent ventures for any spillover level, provided the cost of R&D financing is sufficiently high.

In this paper a quantity-setting duopoly is considered where one firm develops a new product which is horizontally differentiated from the existing product. The main question examined is which strategically important effects occur if the decision to develop the innovation and the decision to introduce the new product in the market are separated. In our multi-stage game the firm's launch decision is explicitly taken into account. We find an equilibrium where the competitor of the potential innovator strategically over-invests in process innovation in order to push the potential innovator to introduce the new product since this reduces competition for the existing product. It is shown that this effect has positive welfare implications in comparison with the case where the innovator commits ex ante to launching the new product.

In this paper, we formulated a dynamic game model of the firms’ process innovation with technological spillover under different market structures (market competition intensity) in a duopoly market, in which the firms are concerned about relative profits as well as their own profits and investigated the relationship between the degree of competitiveness faced by the firms and their R&D expenditure. Our results showed that, under certain conditions, the system always admits saddle point steady-state equilibrium under independent ventures and R&D cartel games, respectively, and although the process innovation investment under R&D cartel is higher than that under the independent ventures, whether the marginal production cost under R&D cartel is less (higher) than that under the independent ventures depends on the degree of technological R&D spillover and the market competition intensity. Furthermore, the marginal production cost under independent ventures is not monotonically decreasing with spillover for the given region of market competition intensity; while the marginal production cost under R&D cartel game always monotonically decreases with spillover for any market competition intensity.

Organizational fitness is often achieved by making changes in business operations. These changes frequently involve the use of a new technology. The effective implementation of change is aided by examining the benefits and challenges of technology management when making decisions. Important elements for consideration in technology management are technology evaluation, integration, planning, implementation, training and change. A solution is proposed to combine and encompass these elements of technology management to encourage the positive aspects and avoid the negative aspects of change implementation. The tool consists of principles to be addressed for each element.

The Six Facets Model presents a tool for managing the implementation of change in an organization. Its utility, however, is largely to be found after the decision to implement a major technological change has been made. This paper proposes a Modified Analytic Hierarchic Process (MAHP) to supplement the Six Facets Model by allowing the manager to consider whether to implement a new technology before turning to the Six Facets Model to ensure a successful implementation. The combination of these tools yields a simple, yet powerful, approach to the management of new technology.

Organizations need to share and acquire new information to sustain competitive advantage in complex environment. They communicate through IT-based integrated systems to fasten communication and knowledge sharing for the creation of innovative products. Firms are, thus, extending their operations to integrate strategic knowledge from partners in the product development process. In this paper, we present a case study related to process innovation in an aerospace firm integrating its information systems with one of its partners to facilitate the design of the models of a complex product. We investigate on the strategy followed to integrate the information systems, the types of these latter, on their success factors and their impact on the product development. The case study provides important insights on the integration of information systems for product design outsourcing.

In this paper, we examine the fundamental process and production innovations in the digital business industry through the lens of the six facets model of technology management. The model is applied to process and product innovation at both the firm and industry level for the first time, offering insight into the digital business industry and also into how process and product innovations can be managed in an industry facing high levels of technological change. We use case histories of two digital businesses, one in the US and one in China, to provide greater generalizability of our findings.

The importance of developing innovative manufacturing technologies in the process industry is increasing in response to environmental concerns. However, scaling up new technologies from the laboratory to the commercial scale is problematic. A unified view on the challenges encountered during scale-up does not appear to exist in the literature. Nevertheless, there is recognition of knowledge gaps and a lack of approaches to knowledge management. This research identifies the knowledge required to carry out scale-up and appropriate knowledge management practices. The findings indicate that the required knowledge does exist to a large extent but that it is not effectively deployed.

In face of growing competitive pressures, many companies broaden their innovation activities beyond product development to address other types of innovation, such as new services, processes, and business models, which traditionally were often neglected. There are important interfaces among these innovation types, but their interplay is often ignored. The findings of 45 exploratory interviews underscore the managerial relevance of innovation interdependencies. A framework with the different innovation types is developed, and a case example of car-sharing is described. Moreover, the performance implications and implementation steps for actively managing innovation interdependencies are described. Without considering the interplay of multiple innovation types, the potential benefits of a firm’s innovation activities will not fully materialize. Consequently, many firms’ difficulties in profiting from innovation do not derive from an inappropriate management of product innovation. Instead, many of these difficulties can be traced back to an insufficient attention to innovation interdependencies.

Research on innovative technological methods in SMEs’ production processes is progressively receiving attention. However, little is known about the emerging phenomenon of additive manufacturing (AM), which may represent a significant strategic lever for fostering a company’s competitiveness and performance, especially for SMEs. Our aim is to investigate the effects of AM on SMEs’ production process, in order to better understand the relative outcomes of such an innovative technique. We used latent content analysis for empirically analyzing SMEs present in one of the most important Italian gold jewelry districts. Our findings suggest that the AM introduction in a company’s production process effectively results in many positive outcomes, such as process innovation, customer satisfaction, costs, revenues, profits, and competitive advantage. Specifically, there is a positive linkage between AM and a company’s performance. Hence, such an innovative technique may be interpreted as a viable growth strategy for SMEs. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

In the last few decades, the connection between innovation and sustainable development has been brought to the surface due to the concerns of academics, scientists, and policymakers regarding environmental and social issues. Although numerous studies have discussed the significance of innovation in achieving corporate sustainable development (CSD), the relationship between these two concepts remains vague. Under this background, the aim of this study was to examine which types of innovation have a significant impact on CSD. In particular, four types of innovation were tested — incremental, radical, product, and process innovation — with the three dimensions of CSD: the social, environmental, and economic dimensions. The data collected from medium- and large-sized firms revealed that incremental, radical, and process innovation had a significant positive impact on CSD. These results have substantial theoretical and managerial implications, as they indicate what types of innovation managers should focus on in order to improve their sustainable business performance.

In an exploratory survey to R&D managers in different sectors of European Process Industry, the importance and present use of a formal work process for process development has been studied. A new conceptual three-phase model for the "process development process", including the identification of production needs, process development and transfer of results to production, was also tested. The results show that only 44% of the companies in the study presently use a formal work process for process development, but the need for such a process is considered to be high. Good support was given for the new conceptual model as a starting point for further development of a company-specific "process development process".

It goes without saying that most companies today need a product innovation work process. The importance of process innovation in many sectors of the process industries should, however, make the development of a process innovation work process a growing concern in many process-based companies. This case study describes the development of such a work process at LKAB, a producer of high-quality iron ore pellets mainly for the European steel industry. Starting with a previously published conceptual model of the work process from a research project in other process industries, the development work is initially introduced in detail. The complete work process is then presented together with a cross-functional process map, checklists and a supplementary process description. The development of the work processes was a combination of a recording of LKAB's best practices coupled with the use of externally published research results and information on work process development. Finally, experience from the development and organisational implementation is discussed. It is the opinion of the project group that if properly applied, this work process will give structure, methodological guidance and efficiency in process innovation. But reaping those rewards will require persistence and discipline at all levels of the company. The purpose of this article is to provide theoretical insight and practical guidance on how to develop an innovation work process in the process industries, specifically, a process innovation work process. The successful development of this work process was considered of such importance to LKAB technology and business development that it resulted in an overall top management initiative to develop and improve all company innovation work processes, with a view to improving innovation output, project management efficiency and organisational learning.

This paper explores the complex relationship between competition and innovation by analyzing survey data of 2,281 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Netherlands. We develop and test hypotheses on the relationships between three dimensions of perceived competition (internal rivalry, supplier power and buyer power) and firms' intentions to engage in product and process innovation. Moreover, we analyze if firms' strategic attention for innovation is a moderating variable. We find that specific innovative intentions relate to different perceptions of competitive forces. Intentions to engage in process innovation correlate with the perceived bargaining power of suppliers, while intended product innovation correlates with perceived buyer power and internal rivalry between incumbent firms in the market — but the correlation with internal rivalry is significant only when firms report no strategic attention for innovation.

At present, R&D managers have little guidance on how to design organizations with respect to organizational affiliation of process innovation. While process innovation in the process industries traditionally accounts for a large share of the company's total development resources it has nevertheless not received much attention in academic studies. In this paper four variables: (1) Industry category, (2) Size of R&D organization, (3) Process innovation intensity and (4) Newness of process innovation are statistically tested against the organizational affiliation of process innovation, based within either R&D or production. The study provides new empirical support for the positive association between the degree of newness and the organization of process innovations. By extensively analysing and discussing the findings in terms of both pros and cons for different organizational structural choices for process innovation, the paper also offers managers practical guidance in making organizational design decisions.

This paper distinguishes three types of organisational innovation — those in a firm’s knowledge management, workplace, and external relations — and studies their impact on firms’ technological innovation performance. Special attention is paid to the openness and external orientation of a firm’s R&D activities as factor moderating the relationship between organisational and technological innovation. Drawing on the fourth wave of the German part of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS IV), this study shows that organisational innovation acts as an important facilitator of new process (but not product) development. Organisational innovations furthermore prove to be complements (but in some cases also substitutes) to external knowledge sourcing and open innovation strategies.

Many methods to facilitate “thinking outside the box” are described in the literature. However, less consideration has been given to reducing the limiting influence of preconceptions in order to increase the potential scope of innovative thinking. In other words, less consideration has been given to “dismantling the box”. Here, research is reported that involved application of principles for reducing preconceptions. These principles are drawn from research into diverse methods from a variety of disciplines, which are used to reduce the limiting influence of preconceptions. Prior to the reported field studies, and without knowledge of the field studies being carried out in the future, participants had ideated innovation proposals focused upon using technologies to achieve improvements to their internal operating efficiency. Subsequently, in all three field studies, participants ideated innovation proposals focused upon using technologies to introduce new offerings which could create new markets. Yet, the field studies involved no methods for facilitating “thinking outside the box” — rather application of principles for reducing preconceptions.

The aim of this paper is to explore innovative behaviour of Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises. It is interesting to study innovative behaviour of microsmau and medium enterprises (MSMEs) since they try to innovate while surrounded by many barriers. They also face high failure rate in doing so. This failure is due to presence of barriers that MSMEs fail to manage. But it has been observed that many MSMEs are now awakening to their potential and becoming innovative. They tend to respond to environmental factors in an innovative way, either by cutting cost or changing ways of management. This innovative way defines their innovative behaviour. The innovative behaviour of MSMEs is studied through three variables, i.e., size, age and barriers faced by them. The result shows that size does influence innovation activities undertaken by MSMEs and statistically, there is no correlation between age and innovative behaviour. Their innovative behaviour is affected by barriers like shortage of technical skilled manpower, technology and shortage of funds or complex funding procedure. The paper is concluded by summarising the key findings, discussing implications, limitations and further scope of study.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), innovation co-operation represents a promising avenue to get around limitations and increase their innovation capacity. But under which conditions are firms more susceptible to engage in such ventures? The purpose of this research paper is to further our understanding of the factors contributing to innovation co-operation for manufacturing SMEs from the firm’s perspective. Following an online and telephone survey with SME managers ($n=273$), we studied the presence or absence of innovation co-operation. We subsequently investigated the intensity of innovation co-operation with market partners (clients, competitors, consultants, and suppliers) and research partners (laboratories, post-secondary education institutions, technology transfer centers, and universities), addressing gaps in a literature dominated by binary analysis. Our empirical analyses suggest that innovation co-operation is promoted by several key determinants. However, it highlights there are many important differences in the determinants of propensity vs. intensity of innovation co-operation.

The study of modes of open innovation in smaller companies is still in the development phase. This study responds to this situation and, drawing upon a data set from 4,679 Turkish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), explores the influence of inbound open innovation and coupled open innovation on marketing innovation as well as process and organisational innovation in SMEs. Results reveal major differences between small and medium-sized Turkish enterprises with regard to both marketing innovation as well as process and organisational innovation. While inbound open innovation positively influences both, marketing as well as process and organisational innovation, the effects for small-sized enterprises are even higher than for medium-sized ones. Coupled open innovation positively influences both innovation outcomes as well, although the effects for medium-sized enterprises are significantly higher than for smaller ones.