International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management

Frugal innovation aims to attain significantly cheaper solutions on the market. The literature points out a lack of studies addressing frugal innovation from a process-oriented (ex-ante) perspective, as well as how to structure and leverage the frugal product development process. This paper explores how lean principles and fundamentals, and more particularly lean product development (LPD) can help fill this gap. The incidence of different types of waste has been observed throughout the new product development (NPD) process, and their mitigation could certainly leverage frugal innovation from the process perspective. However, to operationalize waste mitigation, an evaluation of how different types of waste are related to the various existing LPD practices is necessary. We accordingly build a relationship matrix between LPD practices and waste mitigation throughout the NPD process, based on a literature review encompassing 310 studies. By correlating LPD practices and waste, this paper proposes and discusses a conceptual model that brings insights to understanding how LPD can drive frugal innovations from an ex-ante perspective. The contributions of this paper are the categorization and classification of waste within NPD; the assessment and classification of the lean practices most studied in the literature; the association of the categories of waste with the corresponding lean practices; and the discussion of the possible contribution of LPD literature to leverage frugal innovation from a process-oriented perspective.

This paper analyzes the conceptual bases of innovation studies at the micro- and meso-levels of analysis. The analysis is carried out from a theoretical perspective and highlights the need to study the business unit (micro-unit) and the regional/local scope (meso-unit) as an indissoluble whole in which value creation and competitive advantages are reinforced and sustained, thereby creating winning regions. Likewise, this paper helps us understand the systemic aspect, nature, and dynamics of innovation, and the influence of the historical, social, economic, and technological contexts that affect it. Finally, this paper highlights the study of the micro- and meso-areas of innovation, including their main schools and research.

Despite the leadership literature involving a spread spectrum of relevant frameworks to explain leadership behaviors, there is still an ever-increasing demand for more conceptual transparency in leadership styles, characteristics, and their impacts on members and organizations. This study aims to systematically review and identify all the leadership styles and presents a leadership network of all styles based on the seven steps proposed by . A total of 59 articles were consequently selected according to the protocols and then the predominant leadership styles, as well as their characteristics, were investigated and classified in terms of the three criteria namely “task”, “relationship”, and “change” and a $9\times 9$ leadership network was created covering retrogressive and passive leadership (frame 1.1), authentic and exchange-oriented leadership (frame 9.1), influential and transactional leadership (frame 1.9), transformational leadership (frame 9.9), and balanced leadership (frame 5.5). The proposed network indeed coherently covers all the leadership styles reviewed and presents a framework for shifting towards transformational leadership. This network should be viewed as a coherent entirety and all the six leadership concepts including training, behaviors, culture, competencies, succession, and evaluation need to be taken into consideration.

This research presents and validates a model of project team morale and its influence on project success. We operationally define morale in project-based work as a multi-faceted variable encompassing suggested definitions offered in former studies. Unlike past research, we investigate the mediating effects between these facets of morale and success. A structural equation model is proposed and empirically tested to investigate the interdependencies between the facets of project team morale and how they promote project success. The results show that project team morale explains 25% of the variance in project success. Findings provide project leaders with a tool to enhance project success by influencing employees’ morale, rather than solely focusing on traditional project planning and controlling activities. We provide practical implications for project team leadership and performance.

The growing global demand for efficient and sustainable urban mobility in metropolitan areas has created innovative approaches to new modes of transportation and vehicles. Using the Delphi method, this study explored the prospective development of urban air mobility (UAM), specifically the emergence of air taxis or vertical take-off and landing (VTOLs). The two-staged study examined 25 projections regarding technological and infrastructural aspects to propose a future scenario for UAM and air taxis for the next 5–10 years. The questioned experts confirmed most of the proposed statements from both areas but were undetermined regarding certain technological aspects. Considering the crucial impacts of regulation and certification as well as consumer perception and acceptance for UAM and air taxis, further research on these topics and their correlation is suggested.

The growing number of internet banking (i-banking) users in Bangladesh requires examining their behavioral intention (BI) to adopt i-banking services. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence the customers’ intention in i-banking adoption encompassing the moderating effect of demographic characteristics. This study uses an expansive approach of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model with customer satisfaction. The structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used to analyze the data collected from the internet banking users of Bangladesh. Findings of the study conclude that the higher the level of performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE) and social influence (SI), the greater the level of customers’ inclination to adopt i-banking. Whereas, facilitating condition negatively affects their BI in i-banking adoption. Moreover, this study finds a positive and significant impact of system, service and information quality and security, privacy and trust (SPT) on customers’ satisfaction, which, in turn, substantially influence their intention toward i-banking adoption. While investigating the moderating effect of demographic characteristics, this study finds that all categories of customers, regardless of their age, gender, experience and education, are influenced by the customers’ satisfaction of services qualities and trust perception in i-banking adoption. Therefore, it is suggested to the policymakers that they should take such initiatives in designing the i-banking system that satisfy the customers’ expectations.

An increasing number of higher education institutions have embraced Cloud Computing Services (CCS) to better respond to the issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Cloud computing has helped to ease the process and lower the cost of offering online education and hybrid learning. However, some universities in Thailand face cloud computing adoption challenges because students lack awareness of the benefits and risks of CCS. Therefore, it is vital to identify the critical factors affecting the initial and continuance adoption of CCS by students in less developed countries. This study adopts a trade-off lens to assess the impact of the perceived usefulness and perceived risks regarding students’ attitudes toward the initial and continuing adoption of CCS. Using a survey of CCS from a large public university in Thailand, we found that performance expectation and effort expectation positively affect perceived usefulness, and that authentication risks positively affect perceived risks. We also found that perceived usefulness rather than perceived risks is a deciding factor in adopting CCS. Higher education institutions in Thailand can accelerate the adoption of CCS by improving students’ perceived performance and reducing the perceived risks.

The creation and development of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) is at the core of national prosperity, and constitutes a key activity of the innovation policies of advanced and developing economies. Many of these companies are founded by postgraduates that hold a doctorate (PhDs). Governments foster the creation of NTBFs by PhDs to take advantage of the stock of knowledge which exists in universities and research centers. It is assumed that founders with a high level of specialization and knowledge, such as PhDs, will bring strong competitive advantages to the companies they found. The literature in this regard, however, is scarce and inconclusive. We have studied the role of PhDs in founding teams of NTBFs in a specific kind of entrepreneurial process: corporate venturing. Our conclusions suggest that companies with PhDs are significantly more attractive to corporate venture capital. Corporate venturing has a higher propensity to invest in NTBFs with PhDs in the founding teams, and these companies concentrate a higher number of corporate investors, in a kind of accumulative effect.