International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management

Innovation management (IM) for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region poses unique socio-economic challenges due to the multi-faceted nature of Arab and Islamic countries. Additionally, proposals for indigenous initiatives, sustainability transitions and outward-oriented strategies in economic reform plans of the GCC add further complexity to IM scholarship and practice with imperatives to harness the potentials of these strategic visions. Yet, there is an absence of a systematic review to scrutinize IM literature on the GCC region. This paper systematically reviews the IM literature whose subject involve the GCC countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The review scrutinizes theories, trends and targets in this literature, covers the period from 1980 to 2019, and involves 110 journal papers from high quality IM-related publication outlets. Using insights from the review, the paper develops theoretical foundations for creative complementarities, institutional-pumps and a ripple model of regional innovation. The review also details some methodological, theoretical, conceptual and topical directions for future regional IM research studies.

Collaborative research and development (R&D) requires specific management approaches in several aspects including the measurement of R&D performance. This paper aims to contribute to the debate on how performance of different types of collaborative R&D activities should be measured. To this end, we conduct an exploratory research based on case studies, involving four cases of multinational companies in different fields. We show that firms use performance measurement systems for collaborative R&D which are different compared to the ones used for non-collaborative R&D. Furthermore, such performance measurement systems differ depending on the type of collaborative R&D projects that companies are involved in.

This paper analyzes the mediating effect of absorptive capacity (AC) on the relationship between digital transformation from e-business capabilities (EBC) perspective and product innovation (PI). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was carried out with the survey data from a sample of firms that belong mainly to highly digitalized sectors. The results indicate the existence of a full mediation, which means knowledge derived from the digital operation of the business can only result in PI if AC plays an intermediation role. Hence, this finding calls into question the idea that digitalization alone and automatically acts as a PI driver.

Social media has revolutionized the sports industry by changing the way athletes, coaches, clubs, federations, sport companies and other industry actors interact. Although academic interest in the emergence of social media in the context of sports has increased in recent years, these platforms have not been studied from a bibliometric viewpoint. Therefore, this study examined the scientific production of social media in sports using descriptive bibliometric software. The most prolific authors, journals, institutions, number of citations and networks of authorship are identified. From the bibliometric analysis, implications for sport managers and future research directions for social media in sports are stated.

An increasing number of start-ups, which create disruptive products, services, or platforms, is appearing within the logistics industry. Many of these start-ups are based on new technological innovations made possible by digitization. Compared with many of the start-ups founded during the “dotcom bubble”, current logistics start-ups seem to be more successful in creating lasting customer value. This paper aims to determine if the use of agile approaches, which have increased in importance in recent years, increases entrepreneurial success by means of the ability to better deal with the rapidly changing customer expectations, business model insecurities, and complex technological decisions. Due to the limited extent of empirical studies and the availability of only a few publications, an explorative multiple case study analysis has been executed to understand usage of agile approaches by German logistics start-ups and their interrelation with corporate performance. The main empirical foundation of the cases analyzed is a double-digit number of expert interviews conducted with company founders and executive managers. The findings of the multiple case study analysis demonstrate how logistics start-ups apply agile practices to deal with a high level of market insecurity and reveal how their application enhances company success. Future research should deepen these findings by analyzing more logistics start-ups and employees with different, non-management roles. It would especially be interesting to study direct competitors of those logistics start-ups interviewed to enable an analysis of discriminance and to deduce the best practices in use. The originality of the multiple case study presented lies in its contribution to the widely unexplored field of agility in logistics start-ups and the noteworthy opinions of the high-ranking interviewees.

Researching business models (BM) and in specific business model innovation recently received growing attention by academics and practitioners due to increasing global competition and the constant need for adjustment to changing environments among others. Therefore, the main objective of our study is to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art of research on business model innovation by conducting a systematic literature review (SLR). Our review provides a deeper understanding and breakdown of key components of BMI. Likewise, our study identifies organizational, environmental, and societal factors influencing BMI and proposes avenues for future research.

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.

This study examines university students’ perspectives on student success technology. Efforts to improve graduation and retention rates for undergraduates (i.e. “student success”) and initiatives to enhance the overall student experience are critical for higher education administrators, faculty and staff. These actors are significantly dependent on technology and technology-mediated services. To help understand student perspectives on online services related to student success, this study uses data from a 2016 survey of ABC University students about the importance and satisfaction that students placed on accomplishing key tasks online ($n=1190$ respondents). The main questions in this inquiry are: (1) What, if any, factors, or latent variables, are in the data set? (2) If there are latent variables, what might they tell us about students’ perspectives on accomplishing critical online tasks? The study’s main findings are that five factors — navigation, tactical, funding, personalization and planning - are present in the data and statistically significant. The findings also suggest that a sixth factor, funding, is not significant. This study contributes to the literature by supporting the notion that there is harmony between the technology that universities utilize to support students and the value that students derive from such tools.

Management control systems (MCSs) are commonly assumed to limit autonomy and freedom, thereby hindering innovation. Over the past several years, researchers have studied this relationship in western societies and have compiled contradictory findings. As such, the relationship between MCSs and innovation needs to be further explored. This study seeks to provide a better understanding of this relationship by applying the theoretical levers-of-control (LoC) framework while using two new second-order constructs. Quantitative data are collected from large Indian public sector enterprises (PSE) and are analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) partial least squares (PLS) method. Findings confirm that Indian PSEs tend to use all four levers of the framework and that control and innovation can co-exist. It also differentiates the effect on innovation of two new second-order control constructs: constraining and inspirational. Findings of this study may help managers influence innovation by giving them the ability to adjust the different LoC.