International Journal of Innovation Management

Firms in open source software (OSS) are active in a field encompassing all the characteristics of a public good, given the non-excludability and non-rivalry nature of OSS. The fact that many important inputs to the innovative process are public should not be taken to mean that innovators are prevented from capturing private returns. The objective of this paper is to explore how firms appropriate returns from innovations that are created outside the boundaries of firms and in the public domain, using the case of OSS. To do so, the paper draws upon an explorative multiple case study of five small firms that attempt to appropriate returns from OSS, with rich empirical evidence from various data sources. The cases illustrate how firms try a variety of approaches to appropriate adequate returns, and suggest that selling services is the dominant trend. Firms also balance the relative inefficiency of traditional means of intellectual property rights such as patents by putting greater emphasis on first-mover advantages and creating network externalities.

One strategy used by some Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) governments to stimulate national competitiveness is to encourage innovation via programmes aimed at assisting firms to collaborate. Economic Development Officers operate within a multi-government bureaucratic maze in order to implement these programmes. This paper examines what factors affect the way Economic Development Officers implement an array of government policies that foster collaboration amongst firms and the implications of those factors. The findings suggest that a number of factors compromise their ability to implement these policies effectively, especially since the implementation of New Public Management. In particular, the findings suggest that organisational bureaucratic communication processes moderate the way Economic Development Officers' perceive a chronic lack of resources and multi-stakeholder accountability. The findings reiterate the importance of ensuring that there is synergy between business policy goals and resourcing and accountability mechanisms for those expected to implement the programmes intended to foster collaboration amongst firms.

After a thorough literature review of the present Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methodology and its use in the process industry, it has been concluded that present QFD systems do not address the specific needs of this type of industry. A new QFD system has consequently been developed based on those research findings. The new system has been specially adapted to Process Industry applications and production systems that are often characterised by long chains of customers and suppliers and sometimes by lack of direct contact with end users. The use of the new system is illustrated by a simplified industrial case, and its further application in Process Industry is discussed.

Development processes in which software is integrated in hardware products are explored with the aim of finding obstacles to the development process and hypothesising how they can be dealt with. Empirical data are based on case studies in nine manufacturing companies chosen to have a varied amount of software in their products and experience of technology integration. Results indicate that obstacles in experienced companies concern processes, structures and resources but few culture-related issues. In companies with short experience of software integration in hardware development, cultural aspects were important. Where new technology played a strategic role in the product function, organisational issues such as structures, processes and cultural differences formed obstacles. Where technology only had a supporting role, resource-related obstacles such as lack of competencies were more important. Managerial measures tended to be partly related to the different types of obstacles, partly to the strategic situation of the company.

In spite of increased attention and resulting vibrancy within the field of innovation, earlier research has not yielded a widely accepted consensus regarding how to define innovation. Without a good working definition, we still lack good measures of innovation. One of the greatest obstacles in understanding innovation has been the lack of a meaningful measure. The present study is carried out to find a generic definition of innovation in Information Technology organisations. We also did a comparative study between innovative and less innovative organisations with respect to the way these organisations define innovation. Results showed that there are differences between these two groups of organisations with respect to the way these organisations define innovation. Finally, the implications of findings on these organisations are discussed.