International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management

Globally, high costs and loan defaults are the biggest threats to microfinance profitability and sustainability. This explorative study investigates how and to what extent mobile banking can foster the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs). It expands the traditional dimensions of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) by adding a loan default aspect. The study offers an explorative case study on “Urwego Opportunity Bank” (UOB) — Rwanda’s first commercial mobile service. Based on qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews from the bank’s staff and its customers, the case shows how mobile banking allows for reducing transaction costs and loan defaults and thereby increases efficiency of MFIs. Further, it identifies high agent visibility, and sufficient savings to drive the usage of mobile banking — which, in turn, promotes the deployment of financial services to still unbanked parts of the population in emerging economies.

The so-called Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) are high-tech and promising technologies that are expected to significantly contribute to solving the societal and environmental challenges, which modern European society is facing. Thus, European Commission significantly supports the innovations relating to KETs. Focusing at one of KETs — nanotechnology, the aim of the paper is to present current complex evaluation system of KETs based on technology indicators and applying it at specific use case of moderate and lead nanotechnology-performing countries. Furthermore, the two-dimensional (technology and economic) assessment of the nanotechnology-performing companies in each country is done in order to support the KETs evaluation results. The quantitative and qualitative data of secondary research by various open databases are used. Finally, the necessity of complex evaluation of KETs implementation applying principles of the sustainable development and technology dimension is addressed.

This paper examines the adoption of Smartphones in Saudi Arabia. A theoretical research model is developed based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. A web-based survey has been used to gather data from randomly selected Smartphone users in Saudi Arabia. For data analysis, SEM approach was followed, SPSS and AMOS were utilized for analyzing data. The results indicate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, brand influence, perceived enjoyment, and design constructs have a positive and significant relationship with users’ behavioral intention to adopt and use Smartphones in Saudi Arabia.

Strategic transformation is the primary reason why digitalization, artificial intelligence and related changes are on the top of most corporate agendas. Currently, many firms have completed the stage of strategy formulation for their digital transformation and are in the phase of strategy implementation. Here, many firms face major difficulties, which often result from an emphasis on technology issues at the expense of market-related issues. Following the innovation-based view and a conceptual framework of technology push and market pull effects, this conceptual paper presents important building blocks of successful digital transformation. On this basis, it illustrates the typical focus of most firms at present and highlights the limitations of these approaches. To overcome these limitations, several implementation steps are presented. As such, this paper contributes to research into digital transformation and artificial intelligence as well as into managing strategic renewal in light of technological change.

Additive manufacturing can be considered an innovative and high-technology and one of its characteristics is that it has limited dependency on the location. The purpose of this study is to examine this aspect by investigation how additive manufacturing is spreading globally. The focus is on established manufacturers of industrial additive manufacturing machines. It was found that the early-stage diffusion of this technology is primarily in advanced economies. Furthermore, many of the currently established companies that manufacture industrial 3D printers come from already existing companies that expanded into AM or that led to spin-off companies. The complexity of AM which requires expert knowledge across a range of fields may be the key reason for this finding. Recommendations for further research are provided.

The external triggers cause transitions; to stay competitive, organizations create, respond to change, and shape the environment they interact with. The interactions manifest their traits as characteristics. Like biological species, organizations possess memes (or genotypes), memes mature as ideas or innovations, their interactions with the environment manifest as characteristics (phenotypes). IT organizations experience fast changes, for better response to change adopted agile software development (ASD). When phenotypes involve the development of affordances and display plasticity (agility), apart from cost-benefit criteria, it contributes to co-evolution among organizations and the environment. To examine the phenomena of co-evolution with diverse analytic and heuristic views, the author used multiple ASD case-studies from IT product$/$services organizations. The author noted that organizations increase the height of their fitness landscape, i.e., competitive advantage, by either developing and$/$or acquiring phenotypes. Acquisition meets cost-benefit criteria, but does not assist in sustaining the height, co-evolution, and$/$or cumulate as stable designs, thereby, there are inappropriate responses to external triggers.

While information technology (IT) has grown rapidly in enterprises, scholars have emphasized the importance of IT factors and aspects, while limited attention has been paid to the barriers and challenges facing the adoption of IT. In light of this, we stress the importance of barriers inhibiting IT adoption within Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). For this purpose, this paper aims to create a systematic literature review in order to provide a better understanding of barriers to IT adoption within SME. On the basis of 132 selected studies, we identify 18 barriers categorized according to internal and external parameters. Finally, we underline a synthesis and avenues for future research, and provide scientific and managerial implications and guidance for the adoption of IT in SME.

We explore the types of knowledge barriers that are encountered at organizational level in cross-industry innovation, what influences them and how they can be overcome. Eleven cross-industry projects were qualitatively analyzed at the individual level of activity. Innovation collaboration occurred at three levels; intra-organizational, inter-organizational, and inter-institutional. Each level exhibited added relational distances as well as semantic and pragmatic barriers, of which the latter type was the most challenging. Effort necessary to overcome knowledge barriers accumulated at each level. Knowledge barriers were increased by legitimacy differences and communicational deficiencies, and lowered by reduction of interdependencies, use of knowledge brokers, and previous cross-industry experience.