Narrow Results

Purpose: The popularisation of studies on ecosystem occurred, fundamentally, after the work of Adner (2006) and began to gain theoretical strength after the study by Gomes et al. (2018a), who identified a turning point between the concepts of business ecosystems and innovation ecosystems (IE) analysing studies from 1993 to 2016. The objective of this study is to present the characteristics, trends, and current research avenues of the concept post-transition, especially in the period from 2017 to 2019, during which more publications were produced than in the first 24 years.

Design/methodology/approach: Using data from the Web of Science, we performed a systematic literature review, through bibliometric ($n$ = 153 studies) and content analysis ($n$ = 15 studies). Data were analysed through bibliometrix (a R-tool package) and reading of the studies selected.

Findings: Our study revealed some new research suggestions linked to actors, infrastructure and financial capital for innovation; public policy, social capital, and development; IE Governance; and IE limits.

Research limitation/implications: One limitation of our study is the fact that it only used the Web of Science database.

Originality/value: Even though the literature on IE is extensive, no studies have captured the recent trends on this topic. These trends can be useful for ‘new avenues’ in IE research. The findings also can be important to clarify the concept of IE.

This empirical study examines the intellectual capital (IC) performance of Hong Kong companies and its association with business performance. Data were collected from constituent companies of the Hang Seng Index listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2005–2008). An IC measurement, Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC^TM), was utilised to evaluate the IC investment of the companies.

Four accounting ratios: market-to-book value (MB), return on assets (ROA), asset turnover (ATO) and return on equity (ROE) were used as the indicators of business performance. Regression analyses were conducted to test the ability of IC and its components in order to explain the variance in business performance measures.

No conclusive evidence was found to support the associations between VAIC^TM as an aggregate measure and the four financial indicators. However, components of VAIC^TM were found to predict a substantial variance in business performance. Capital Employed Efficiency (CEE) was found to be a key factor in predicting business financial performance. Structural Capital Efficiency (SCE) was found to have a significant effect on businesses' market valuation, as measured by MB, and on profitability, as measured by ROE. Negative correlations were found between Human Capital Efficiency (HCE) and the financial indicators. The findings indicate a gap between the traditional accounting perspective and the value creation perspective, which is central to the VAIC^TM methodology in measuring IC.

It is believed that the findings of this research provide insights for business stakeholders of Hong Kong companies in utilising IC, particularly the noted impact of structural capital. While our findings indicate the importance of IC for corporations, as shown by the significant effect of SCE on ROE, physical and financial assets may still be considered as the key resources in delivering business success.

Incumbent firms’ competitiveness largely depends on the ability to develop digital innovation as novel combination of digital and physical components. This paper provides a better understanding of value creation through digital innovation, focussing on market offerings from incumbent firms. Based on the insights of an exploratory multiple case study with seven cases from the automotive, machine engineering, and consumer goods industries in Germany, we explain the multi-sided changes required for the development and management of digital innovations. Afterwards, we contribute to the further theorization of digital innovation. According to our empirical findings, we decided to discuss the applicability of the resource-based and competence-based approach.

The sharing economy gives rise to numerous new business models. A prominent novel one relates to coworking-spaces, where independent individuals and teams share spaces and amenities and engage in social interaction and information exchange. Yet the business models of such spaces are not well known. Our qualitative study identifies four types of business models design of coworking-spaces in China, where coworking-spaces have sharply increased in number and importance. We find four types of coworking-space business model configurations: efficiency-centered business model, user-centered business model, development-centered business model, and platform-centered business model, which exceed the prior conceptualization of business model themes. Especially, the platform-centered business model relates to innovation policy in China, facilitating mini-spatial innovation ecosystems.

In the increasingly knowledge-based economy, the role of the service sector, and in particular, of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS), is widely acknowledged. KIBS are considered 'bridges of innovation'. Furthermore, in addition to this pivotal role in supporting the competitiveness and development of other firms, KIBS sectors are, per se, increasingly relevant in terms of economic dimensions and employment. Creative KIBS span architecture, advertising, multimedia and internet applications, branding, design agencies, etc and leverage creative processes and creative individuals. The importance of these firms is directly related to the increasingly acknowledged role of creativity and innovation for competitiveness. In fact, while some KIBS have grown to significant sizes in the creative sector (e.g., IDEO and Continuum Innovation), normally, these firms fail to grow and consist of only the founding professionals and a limited number of close collaborators. As argued by Florida and Goodnight (2005), the company's most important asset is its creative capital and this is not just a collection of individuals' ideas, but a product of interaction. This paper relies on a sample of eight Italian creative KIBS to analyse the value creation and appropriation strategies adopted by companies that were able to transform their creative capabilities from an individual asset to a company one (creative capital). On the basis of a theoretical framework that is derived from the literature and based on three pillars (Unique Assets Development, Unique Assets, and Unique Assets Value Appropriation), we identify several peculiar assets and strategies that are adopted by creative KIBS. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of Unique Asset Embodiment strategies, i.e., the importance of strategies for formalizing and codifying the unique assets in specific technologies, archives, processes, and even products. We show that these strategies allow (i) to extract more value from the already adopted value appropriation strategies and (ii) to adopt specific strategies of value appropriation.

Innovations have the potential to create value by generating rents (primary appropriability), or they can be used as background knowledge for further innovations and value creation (generative appropriability). Because these possibilities exist, organisations need to make strategic decisions on knowledge sharing with their partners in collaborative innovation. In best cases, primary and generative appropriability are complementarities rather than alternatives: Knowledge sharing with partners for new innovation could be made safer using formal and informal isolating appropriability mechanisms that improve controllability, thereby preserving rent generation possibilities and simultaneously allowing safe knowledge exchange. We use a quantitative sample of 209 Finnish firms to examine how different formal and informal appropriability mechanisms relate to value capture and creation, and whether these relationships are affected by the strategic goal to reduce imitation of competitors or to improve safe knowledge sharing to partners.

Maintaining innovation potential means that ideas, and the people generating those ideas, should be at the firms disposal. Furthermore, the firm should be able to capture value from people's ideas. Losing these people therefore poses risks. Managing these risks is challenging, especially without intra-firm consensus on their role. This study examines how and why perceptions of severity and management of risks related to knowledge leaving and knowledge leaking differ across organisational levels and different firm locations. Depending on what types of differences are present, and why similarities and differences emerge, managers can direct their attention to different control or commitment-enhancing practices to address the risk of harmful knowledge loss and imitation. They should do this in a manner that enables them to maintain the prerequisites for future innovation and a creative work environment, while at the same time allowing global coordination and local adaptation.

Web 2.0 as a contemporary phenomenon receives considerable attention by IS scholars due to its perceived transformational impact on businesses. This paper critically elaborates on the value creation potential of Web 2.0 for small and medium enterprises (SME). By conducting an inductive study we reveal that SMEs can effectively use Web 2.0 as a means to support customer acquisition, alleviate resource limitations and to maintain customer enthusiasm associated with the customer purchasing process. In case that a high customer convenience is required which is based on the involvement of different parties or on personal service support, there is hardly any Web 2.0 value creation potential. This research contributes to the domain of business modeling by assessing the notion of value in a Web 2.0 setting. It also contributes to IS research on Web 2.0 adoption.

In today's knowledge-based society, discussion on intellectual capital (IC) has become intertwined with knowledge management (KM). KM may be viewed as the activities and processes to create and maximise IC. It may be possible to suggest that an organisation's level of knowledge utilisation is associated with its level of intellectual capital. The purpose of this research was to explore whether there is an association between KM maturity level, as a proxy of assessing the level of KM efficacy and IC utilisation efficiency in companies listed on CSI 100 (China Securities Index Co., Ltd.) in mainland China. A self-assessment of KM maturity level, developed based on the KM self-assessment framework proposed by Collison and Parcell, was used to gauge the knowledge utilisation of an organisation. The intellectual capital efficiency coefficient (ICE), component of the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™), was used to assess the efficiency of intellectual capital. Overall, 26 questionnaires were collected from the surveyed organisations to evaluate their level of KM, which accounted for 25% of the sample. Finally, correlation analysis with SPSS was performed to examine if there was a correlation between ICE and the maturity level of KM in the sampled companies in mainland China. The results showed that the association between the two variables was not statistically significant. In fact, no conclusive evidence was found to support an association between efficiency of utilising intellectual capital, and KM maturity score. The lack of an association may suggest that there may be other intervening variables yet to be identified in the relationship between KM and IC. This study is an attempt to explore the above assertion and to conduct empirical studies in studying their applicability in China, one of the fastest growing economies in the world. While we are not seeking to generalise the results, it may serve as a good reference for further studies in examining the intricate "relationship" between IC and KM, that is, linking a process view of KM to the measurement of value creating intangibles of a corporation epitomised by IC.

Consistent with the resource-based view research on investment syndicates indicates relative performance advantages of syndicate-backed ventures. However, in line with agency theory, the literature shows that heterogeneous syndicates between independent venture capital (IVC) and corporate venture capital (CVC) produce portfolio firms that exert only marginal growth and are less likely to exit successfully. These contrasting views motivate this study, which aims to shed light on the determinants of value creation for new venture firms in IVC–CVC co-investing. Our qualitative research builds on a cross-industry sample of 35 interviewees identifying a distinctive set of value drivers comprising shareholder relationships, corporate setup, venture life cycle, and deal terms.

Games of innovation are sets of rules that structure meso-level innovation systems composed of organisational actors that compete and collaborate to create value. All game rules are coherent, with one dominant value-creation logic, and refer to all the aspects of managing innovation, from competitive strategies and policies for investment in innovation capabilities to practices for identifying opportunities and managing projects. The dominant logic that guides them stems from prevailing conditions for innovation, which open certain avenues by which participants produce and capture value, but which close others. The rules stabilise and ensure the reproduction of innovation systems for long periods of time.

Co-creation is a special type of collaboration that co-opts individuals in an innovative way for creating value. Engaging in co-creation can result in mutual benefit for the participants as they obtain favourable end results or exchange knowledge and skills but may be challenging when an individual may not be ready or willing to co-create. This makes it imperative that an individual's readiness to co-create (RTCC) is understood and factored into the management of co-creative processes. Drawing from research on readiness to collaborate, factors that determine RTCC are examined in this article. Specifically, the relationship between constructs of individual value system (IVS), organisational value system (OVS), contextual-environmental conditions (EC), intrapersonal characteristics (IntraCharac), interpersonal characteristics (InterCharac), and RTCC are examined. Post confirmatory factor analysis indicated that most of the variables of the six constructs had loaded on a particular factor except for IntraCharac that loaded only 2 variables. Based on these results, multiple regressions were performed, which indicated that environmental conditions and InterCharac did have significant influence on RTCC whereas IntraCharac did not have a strong effect. Managerial implications and potential future research directions are also highlighted.

This paper focuses on challenges regarding managerial behaviour and productivity in the context of digitalisation. It is neither understood precisely how managerial behaviours transcribe digital strategy into economic success nor how opportunities from digital innovations are transferred into productivity. A systematic literature review (SLR) is applied to acquire an organised overview of the research question “How does managerial behaviour concerning digital innovations change productivity?” The outcomes of this paper are threefold: (1) The research question will be answered by showing several aspects managers can make use of to influence productivity. In this regard knowledge, change management and data-driven behaviours, the creation of collaborative settings, and (customer) co-creative aspects are of particular importance. (2) Executives will be motivated to reflect and calibrate their own practices. (3) The Gutenberg rooted framework of production factors is used to discuss the results and six suggestions are made to transform the model to digital readiness.

Over the past decade, Open Innovation (OI) literature has extended its scope beyond strictly economical contexts to the context of societal value creation. This has given rise to the notion of distributed knowledge as a driver for sustainable innovation development. Over the past 15 years, the concept of Urban Living Labs (ULLs) has gained popularity to put social OI into practice. Hence, this concept is often applied in urban environments to support transition processes that try to tackle so-called wicked problems. However, a fuzzy understanding of this ULL concept still exists, due to an unclear understanding of its value creation mechanics. Therefore, this paper aims to both conceptualise and gain a better understanding of how ULLs are instrumentalised and create value. This is studied from the perspective of “ecosystem stakeholders” that participate in ULL projects. These insights are obtained through a case study with a multimethod qualitative research approach. The main data sources are a series of 20 semi-structured key-informant interviews, four focus groups, and participatory observation. The results show that the value creation for the participating stakeholders can be summarised in two main clusters: (1) the ULL as a way to build and strengthen the capacities of participating stakeholders; and (2) the ULL as a way to facilitate purpose driven fulfilment in urban transition processes.

In recent years, it is mandatory for profitable organizations in India to work toward Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Many thinkers in the industry have appreciated the move of the Indian Government by mandating profitable businesses to take responsibility for society by sharing certain portions of the profit made by these organizations. This study focuses on various initiatives taken by BOSCH India Foundation (BIF) for socio-economic development and value creation through its CSR activities. The primary data are collected by conducting interviews with the senior-level managers working in the CSR department of the Bidadi plant. The data are also collected by visiting the field of action, discussing with various stakeholders and observing their initiatives. The secondary data are collected from published sources and official records of the company. This case study shows that BOSCH India Foundation is focusing on the development of the villages in Bidadi. Their CSR initiatives focus on education, agriculture and livestock development, health and hygiene, environment, women empowerment, youth development and access to potable water. This study analyzes the economic and social impacts it has created in the society. The case provides new insight for researchers and students about the CSR approaches and best practices which can be a model for companies working on CSR projects.