International Journal of Innovation Management

The effects of open search strategies (i. e., search for firm-external knowledge) on firm-level innovation performance are still ambiguous in the existing literature. We introduce the concepts of focused search strategy and multi-focus search strategy as differentiating factors for a firm. The results of a cross-industrial survey from Finnish markets suggest that applying one focused search strategy intensively generally enhances the firm-level innovation performance. It also seems that emphasizing multiple search strategies intensively improves performance even more, and that the effect becomes stronger, the greater the number of knowledge sources used. Furthermore, the results show that firm-specific technological capabilities have a negative moderating effect in terms of highly focused search strategies, but this diminishes when the focus gets more diverse.

The importance and challenges of supplier–customer cooperation has been widely recognized in the academic literature but the dynamics of such relationship remain understudied. We do not yet fully understand how customer–supplier relationship should be pursued in order to co-create mutual competitive advantage. Our simulation results show that there are differences in absolute profitability and profit distribution between cooperation partners when moving from individual firm-level management to holistic system-based management. We further find that if the supplier manages cooperation from individualistic perspective it is able to achieve the highest short-term profits by sacrificing the profitability of its customer. However, when the supplier acknowledges the profitability logic of its customer, the long-term overall profitability of the cooperation as a whole, i. e., the system, becomes significantly higher than with opportunistic individually-oriented (short-term) management. In described cases, it is actually profitable for the supplier to limit the distribution of its unique resources (e. g., technology).

Identifying shifts in the needs and behavior of social systems and markets depicts promising new market opportunities for creative organizations. Potential users might be adept in reflecting those shifts and irregularities in collaboration due to their outsider perspective. This paper is a systematic inquiry into the unique contribution of potential users and its embodiment in communication in co-creation activities. Following the principles of grounded theory, contributions and strategies of potential users are contrasted with those of current users within varying dyadic compositions. Tentative propositions pertaining to the merits and limitations of collaboration with potential users and with regard to emergences in varying dyadic compositions are derived. The resulting core category "enriched compensation and improvisation" shows that potential users' contributions unintentionally pervade the collaboration with social, cultural and emotional values, which can be regarded as problem finding as opposed to problem solving creativity. Their willingness to improvise leads to a series of ad-hoc changes to initial ideas which foster transformation when combined. Collaboration with potential users therefore depicts ways to leverage technological competences and shape promising new market opportunities.

There is a growing stream of research unraveling individual motivations to participate in idea crowdsourcing and online user communities. While the current research has largely focused on individual user characteristics and overlooked the features of surrounding communities, our research turns the focus onto the actual community where knowledge is shared and created. We investigate the relationships between perceived support from a crowdsourcing community, and the users' intentions to share knowledge. Our research is based on a survey of 241 Chinese users of IdeasProject and shows that (1) for community trust, trust in the hosting firm has a significant effect on knowledge-sharing intentions, while collaborative norms do not; (2) for community support, both technology-based support and knowledge-based support have an effect on knowledge-sharing intentions. From a community management viewpoint, our results demonstrate the importance of providing continued support for knowledge integration, such as more opportunities for user-to-user interaction and features for providing constructive feedback.

This study examines, through the theoretical lens of absorptive capacity, how the interaction between investments in R&D and training moderates the influence of collaboration with public research organisations (PROs) on firm innovation performance. Using data for 1,086 innovating firms across all industry sectors in the Australian state of Tasmania in 2010, we find that there is no direct association between collaboration with PROs and firm innovation performance, and the R&D-training interaction plays a significant role in positively moderating such an association. This study contributes to the innovation management literature by demonstrating the importance of the combination of R&D and training in creating absorptive capacity. More importantly, the combination of R&D and training positively influences the successful exploitation of private–public collaboration and promotes innovation performance.

In this paper, we present a qualitative, interview-based study of the processes small technology-based firms go through when they adopt tools and adapt them for use. By extracting 59 instances of tool internalisation across five firms, we derived a coding scheme combining existing and emergent forms of tool bricolage. The four types are reconstruction, reinterpretation, evolution, and customisation. We articulate examples of each type. Our findings reinforce the variability of any given tool once enacted in practice, contrary to implied expectations in some innovation tools literature that tool application is a straightforward mechanical process. In the small firms in our study, we found reinterpretation is the most prevalent form of tool adaptation. This type of tool use is prone to being superficial and failing to gain the benefits available from a more carefully customised or reconstructed tool. We also report on the different ways in which practitioners gain awareness of new tools.

Corporate venturing is a real adventure that teams may only master gradually through research and learning, which proceeds through iterative specification and validation of business models. Based on this understanding we have developed a five E framework for corporate venturing that is organized by learning objectives on five levels of maturity, and backed up with scaffolding tools and methods. It shows how to explore, elaborate upon, evaluate, experiment with and evolve assumptions. Scaffolding tools and methods support the two main sets of activities required within this framework: the creative exploration of new ideas and opportunities, and the iterative specification, quantification and evaluation of assumptions. Examples from nine new venture projects in the telecommunication industry illustrate the approach.

Innovation processes result from a series of decisions and these are influenced by the perceived risks and success metrics faced by the decision-maker. Aiming to understand whether innovation risks and success metrics change during and between innovations, four hypotheses were developed and a questionnaire-based survey was adopted targeting managers of mechanically based manufacturers. Respondents were asked to indicate the importance of perceived risks throughout specific innovations for four domains of risk: marketing, technical, organizational and financial. Respondents were also asked to identify changes in type and magnitude of innovation risk and success metric. Descriptive and statistical tests were conducted to analyse the data. The results suggest that innovation risk changes in type and magnitude during and between innovations and success metrics change in type and magnitude during innovation. This study calls for situation specific research to provide helpful advice to practitioners.

This paper examines the links between eco-innovations and competitiveness. It explores how superior competitiveness is created and how existing competitiveness is lost. The study utilises multiple case studies following the replication approach. The empirical evidence is based on five case firms that have created superior competitiveness and five case firms that have lost their competitiveness. Competitiveness is monitored having emphasis on market-related, efficiency-related, risk-related and image-related issues. The longitudinal data covers ten years from 2002 to 2011. This study provides two contributions to academic literature. First, it deepens the existing knowledge of how firms have created competitiveness through the development of eco-innovations or how the firms have lost their competitiveness. Second, it illustrates a journey of ten years during which the successful eco-innovators created their superior competitiveness. Also, the journey of the unsuccessful eco-innovators is described.