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The firm survival risk is essential to intellectual property strategy implementing in China, however only a few studies focus on this problem. The paper investigates the effect of intellectual property rights protection system (IPR) on survival risk. Specifically, we use an event history analysis to track 8486 firms entering the market from the year 2000, and employ computing methods of the time-dependent Cox model. One important finding from this study is that the survival risks of R&D firms can be reduced approximately 22.57% by every additional unit of intellectual property, and the marginal effect raises to 28.33% with the exclusion of the administrative factors. Another important finding is that the relationship between IPR protection and survival risk is affected by R&D revenue. Finally, the survival risk for all those firms with substantive innovation rather than strategic innovation can be greatly affected by IPR system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "dual circulation" development pattern is a major economic strategy proposed by China. Using samples gathered from firms located in the Haidian Science and Technology Park in Zhongguancun between 2013 and 2019, this paper constructs an index system for measuring the degree of synergy of the dual circulation coupling of the firms, and then uses the Cloglog survival model to empirically verify its effect on the survival of firms. It is found that the dual circulation coupling synergy of firms significantly contributes to firm survival, a finding that still holds after robustness tests. Mechanism tests show that firm dual circulation coupling synergies contribute to firm survival by promoting firm innovation, market demand, and resource allocation efficiency. Further analysis reveals that the coupled synergy of the dual circulation of firms contributes more significantly to the survival of growing and mature firms, MSMEs, private firms and non-start-up firms. This paper is the first to measure dual circulation. It provides micro-theoretical mechanisms and relevant empirical evidence for the dual circulation coupling synergy for firm survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the dynamic nature of contemporary markets and the importance of innovation driving new sources of revenue, it is essential for firms to manage innovation to gain an advantage. However, the innovation process is complex and presents multiple strategies for success with little support for managers in selecting the most appropriate strategy. In this paper, a decision making grid (DMG) was developed for selecting between four strategies of closed, open, incremental and radical innovation, based on two time-dependent indicators of Mean Time to Innovate (MTTI) and Mean Time between Innovations (MTBIs). The two indicators were defined, weighted, and allocated to the cells of DMG using a heuristic method. Questionnaire responses from 106 knowledge-based companies were received in 2018 and the firms were positioned in the developed DMG. The companies' strategies were determined as 31 firms with closed, 16 open, 14 incremental, and 10 radical innovation strategies. Five different combined strategies were used by 35 companies. The DMG can be used by a technology park or incubator to assess and support companies or by managers seeking to enhance their innovation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopted the definition of a zombie firm as an old firm (aged 10 and above) that make losses in three consecutive years to identify zombie firms in the Nigerian Insurance sector for the period 2005 - 2015. In this study the twenty-four (24) listed insurance firms in the Nigerian stock exchange as at 31st, December 2015 was analyzed with a view to ascertaining if there are zombie firms in the insurance sub-sector. The findings show that seven (African Alliance Insurance, Goldlink Insurance, Guinea Insurance, Linkage Assurance, Niger Insurance, SUNU Assurance Nigeria and Wapic Insurance) out of the twenty-four insurance firms listed in the Nigerian stock market are zombie firms. Thus, the study established that 29.2% of the quoted insurance firms in Nigerian stock market were zombie firms during the period 2005-2015. After assuming the Zombie status, Linkage Assurance, Niger Insurance and Wapic Insurance recovered and have returned to profitability while African Alliance Insurance, Goldlink Insurance, Guinea Insurance, SUNU Assurance Nigeria were not consistent in their return to profitability. The study therefore recommends that there should be early restructuring aim at reducing the spending of zombie firms. Also, Zombie firms should embrace modern technology to gain competitive advantage and should be innovative in their product design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of the process innovation on export propensity in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms and non-KIBS firms in Colombia. Design/methodology/approach: For the empirical application, the authors use a unique primary data set drawn from the Global Competitiveness Project (GCP: www.gcp.org) that includes information for 57 Colombian KIBS for 2019. The authors use a binary choice model to test the proposed hypotheses on the relevance of KIBS and process innovation in explaining export propensity. Findings: The results showed a positive relationship between KIBS and business size with an export propensity, but this relationship is non-meaningful. Also, the findings showed a negative and non-significant relationship between a process innovation and business age with the probability to export. On the other hand, the evidence state that KIBS firms encourage the relationship between propensity to export and process innovation, which is to say that they are highly effective to increase the propensity to export. Finally, the industry increases the probability of export propensity. Originality/value: This study offers a new insight relating to KIBS, process innovation and their contribution to increasing export propensity. The findings of this paper offer relevant information to government policymakers to design strategies that promote export activity in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation in the new energy vehicle industry provides essential opportunities for green transformation. This paper addresses several issues related to (1) the impacts of government subsidies on the innovation of Chinese new energy vehicle enterprises, (2) the heterogeneous sensitivity of innovation to government subsidies due to firms' ownership and location regions, (3) the spatial correlation of innovation, and (4) the impact of reducing subsidies. Using a dataset of Chinese new energy vehicle enterprises listed on the A-share market for the period of 2010–2019, we find a promoting effect of government subsidies on firms' innovation. The promoting effect is greater in the private-owned firms and the central area. We also find that reducing government subsidies only negatively affects the innovation in the western region, and the positive influence of government subsidies is enhanced in the private-owned firms after the exposure of subsidy fraud. In terms of spatial effect, we do not find evidence for a positive spillover effect among companies. Our findings provide important implications for improving the effectiveness of subsidy policies in the new energy vehicle industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nexus between innovation and employment growth. In contrast to most studies that employ data from technologically advanced economies, the study uses well-documented data from a leapfrogging and catching-up economy in sub-Saharan Africa. We find a positive relationship between process innovation and employment growth among Nigerian manufacturing and services firms from 2005 to 2010. Furthermore, product innovation is also positively related to employment growth in manufacturing. This study's peculiarity is that innovative firms' ability to grow rely on their operations in regional and export markets, respectively. Our study contributes to the understanding of innovation and firm development in emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to clarify the relationship between corporate governance (GOV) and business innovation (INOV). Does it provide the empirical evidence of how different GOV mechanisms affect INOV within listed Moroccan companies? Design/methodology/approach -- The paper opted for a confirmatory quantitative study using a closed-ended questionnaire using a fifth-degree Likert scale. The questionnaire was administered to 54 listed Moroccan firms represented by their senior management having mainly a finance and economics background. Findings -- The paper provides empirical insights and evidence about howmechanisms of GOV impact INOV within listed Moroccan companies. It suggests that effectivemechanisms of GOV foster and incubate INOV. Research limitations/implications -- There have been very empirical studies that investigate the relationship between GOV and innovation. As such, the authors' conceptual framework relies more on the theoretical aspect of this subject than empirical one. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further. Originality/value -- A review of the few existing empirical studies shows mitigated results regarding the relation between GOV and innovation. The findings of this study show a significant positive relation between GOV and its mechanisms and INOV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition toward more efficient and sustainable energy systems relies on the introduction by firms of innovations aimed at reducing the energy-environmental impact. In this paper, controlling for firms' technological capabilities and taking into account the role of specific policy instruments, demand-pull factors and firms' cost-saving needs, we carry out an in-depth analysis of the drivers motivating firms' decision to engage in two main types of energy innovations, energy-efficient and renewable energy innovations, as compared to other environmental technologies. The empirical evidence, provided by using firm-level data from the Community Innovation Survey for different European countries, highlights the key role of firms' cost saving needs as a motivation driving the introduction of both types of energy innovations, as well as of governmental subsidies and public procurement though only for renewable energy innovations. The influence of demand-pull factors is instead transversal between energy innovations and other eco-innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to increase the innovation focus of business organizations in today's time is undisputed. Employing creativity in the organization is one of the ways to deliver better innovative results. The purpose of this paper is to present the final results of research, the internal motivation to generate ideas from employees in different business organizations. The paper outlines the need to create innovations within the organization as well as some methods that can be used to enhance creativity when the path of future innovations emerges. The empirical study covers a survey of business organizations from several sectors of the economy (information technology, banking institutions, educational institutions, commercial intermediaries). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We investigate if firm innovation improves aggregate industry productivity. • We use a large sample of Chinese manufacturing firms. • Firms becomes more productive and attracts more resources through innovation. • Market distortion results in resource misallocations and aggregate productivity losses. • Firm innovation does not dominant resource reallocations and productivity growth. This paper investigated to what extent firm innovation improves the aggregate productivity of the Chinese manufacturing industry in the presence of market distortions. By deriving a measure of firm-level distortions, we examined the role of market distortions in determining resource reallocations and aggregate productivity. The results indicate that firms become more productive and attract more resources through innovation, while market distortions also have large impacts on across-firm resource reallocations. Based on a productivity decomposition approach, we found that resource reallocation negatively contributes to aggregate productivity growth (APG) and that the contribution of firm innovation to APG is small. Our results suggest that firm innovation has not yet become the dominant factor in determining resource allocations and APG in China. In addition to boosting innovation, our study highlights the importance of improving the efficiency of resource allocation to improve aggregate industry productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basic goals of the research consisted in the elucidation of the essence and significance of the innovative management, its connection with the enterprises' performance, as well as the reflection on the implementation of innovative management in the food production sector of the Republic of Moldova. The research was carried out with the use of qualitative and quantitative methods: literature review, interview, content analysis, thematic and statistical analysis. As a result of the research, problems related to the economic efficiency of the food enterprises, as well as related to the reduced tendencies of the exports of the food products have been identified. It was also found out that the number of innovative food enterprises is continuously decreasing. Thus, even if more and more enterprises are advocating for the combination of different types of innovations (a fact positively appreciated), the reduction in the number of innovative enterprises induces the reasoning that the sector does not sufficiently capitalize on innovation as a performance factor. According to the opinion of the company representatives, the financial barriers have the greatest negative impact on the innovative activity of food enterprises, followed by the barriers related to the reduced demand for innovative products, the insufficiently capitalized human factor, deficiencies in creating partnerships, insufficient information etc. In these conditions, the amplification of efforts to promote and support innovations is required as an important direction for improving the management of food enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology-based firms need to survive via technological changes. Technological entrepreneurship is concentrated on identifying and exploiting the tech-opportunities for creating product innovation. This paper introduces a fuzzy-based tool to promote innovation throughout firms in order to enhance technological entrepreneurship capabilities (TEC). The effort involves identifying components of TEC to develop the inference system, specifying the fuzzy relationship among these components, assessing the TEC in firms, and designing a TEC roadmap after a fuzzy-based gap analysis. Designed roadmaps introduce technological change priorities as a growth path to firms to move up along the ladder of competitiveness. Based on the results, a method for categorizing firms into four distinct levels that involve passive, reactive, proactive and innovative is introduced. Hence, firms have an action plan to enhance TEC from passive to innovative level in a time-based transition pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper begins with some basic innovation definitions and quickly reviews evidence of the relatively weak innovation performance of Canadian business. The core of the paper develops a thesis that explains why Canadian industry, on the whole, has not emphasized innovation in its business strategies but has prospered nonetheless. This raises the question of whether Canada’s low-innovation equilibrium can persist in the face of tectonic forces related to globalization, technology, and sustainability that require innovative responses from enterprises worldwide and, not least, from Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper extends Teece’s model of dynamic capabilities (2007) into four types of capabilities: sensing, coordination, autonomy and reconfiguration capabilities. We further develop a structural model between four types of dynamic capabilities and radical innovation performance (RIP) in established firms. Based on a dataset of top 500 manufacturing established firms in Taiwan, the proposed hypotheses are tested using the structural equation models. The results reveal that four types of dynamic capabilities and RIP are positively correlated in a sequential and structural manner. This paper concludes the systemic development of dynamic capabilities can improve RIP in established firms. Finally, we point out some managerial implications for improving RIP in established firms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper seeks to determine the factors which explain differing levels of innovation in Chile at the regional level. Data used in the study was obtained from the Tenth Inquiry into Innovation in Businesses 2016, published in 2018 by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Binary logistic regressions (Logit) were developed for each region, identifying the specific explanatory factors which determine the greatest likelihood of innovation among local businesses. The study concludes that the heterogeneities detected call for an adjustment in public policies in accordance with regional dynamics, which should be understood as subnational spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategic choices regarding innovation and research and development (R&D) policy in Portugal have, over the past two decades, produced various positive benefits, in which the regions of Lisbon and Algarve, in particular, have taken the lead. These are the only regions in Portugal which converge towards the European average growth rate with respect to gross production, investment and employment creation. It is now timely to evaluate firms’ contributions to national and regional growth, their obstacles, and impacts. After a conceptualization of innovation policy in Portugal, the present paper treats innovation as a major criterion for the policy evaluation process referred to above. Our empirical investigation aims to explain the innovation performance of Portuguese firms throughout the country, and to explore those determinants of innovation which are region-specific. Therefore, the analysis addresses a set of firms’ achievement patterns, by focusing on ways in which institutions interact in the process of innovation at the regional level. In our modelling study, we employ a new methodology, viz. the external logistic biplot method, which is applied to an extensive sample of innovative institutions in Portugal. Variables identified as crucial determinants in earlier studies are used to describe regional institutional profiles. Such profiles exhibit a great variety of ways in which these determinants are able to promote regional innovation. The creation of a Gradient of Capacity to Dynamically Innovate associated with each firm enables an analysis of the innovation gradient of each region in Portugal. Our paper presents and investigates these findings, and offers some policy lessons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares the innovativeness of group-affiliated firms (GAFs) and standalone firms (SAFs), and it investigates how country-specific institutional factors affect the group–innovation relationship. The paper analyzes the contrasting predictions of two competing views: the institutional voids and the organizational resilience theses. The empirical analysis focuses on a large sample of firms in Latin America. In line with the organizational resilience thesis, the results point out that the superior innovation performance of GAFs is stronger for national economies with more efficient financial, legal, and labor market institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first study that uses multilevel modelling to analyse regional influence on the decision to invest in innovation activities of firms in a single developing country, Ecuador. Our results indicate that the decision to invest in R&D and in other innovation activities are conditioned by the region in which the firm is located. Regional loan volume, orientation towards knowledge exploitation and intra‐regional‐sectorial R&D spillovers are positively associated with both types of innovation activities, while regional levels of co‐operation and inter‐regional R&D spillovers are only positively associated with the probability of investing in other innovation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of green innovation on achieving sustainable development is increasingly recognized in recent years. This paper explores whether and how external institutional pressure (including coercive pressure, normative pressure and mimetic pressure, though the last was not discussed in depth) promote green innovation and investigates the moderating effect of internal organizational slack by combining institutional theory and resource-based view. With the sample of China's top 100 listed companies from 2008 to 2014 and generalized estimating equations (GEE) approach, the findings supports the Porter Hypothesis that both coercive pressure and normative pressure have significant positive effects on corporate green innovation. Organizational slack positively moderates the relationship between coercive pressure and green innovation, but has no significant impact on the relationship between normative pressure and green innovation. Accordingly, the scientific value of this research is that it extends the debates on Porter Hypothesis and the role of organizational slacks. The results suggest that the government should strengthen the implementation of coercive tools, the media should play roles of “muckraking”, “catalyst” and the “vanguard” of public inquiry to insert normative pressure, and firms should rationally allocate slacks to improve green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing firms’ innovativeness is not an easy task. The literature recognises a number of innovativeness indicators. Most of them are technology-based indicators which perform well in high-tech industries but might be ineffective in other industries where patenting is not usual or in which R&D budgets are low or not formalised. In this paper, we critically review previous innovativeness indicators and we propose a new approach to assess firm innovativeness that is based not on the role of technology but on that of people. This new approach focuses on the existence of work-life balance benefits that are connected with motivation, engagement and creativity in the workplace. We argue that this could be an effective complementary means to assess the innovativeness of firms. It could be combined with previously used indicators and might have considerable advantages such as their suitability for application in any kind of firm regardless of its technological profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines R&D collaboration of Chinese firms along the growth of innovation capability from the portfolio perspective. Taking advantage of longitudinal patent data from the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) between 1985 and 2008, the configuration, evolution and pattern of collaboration partner portfolio of Chinese firms are investigated. The results show that: 1) Chinese mainland enterprises (CMEs) are active to engage in R&D collaboration, while most Taiwan-invested enterprises (TIEs) and foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) still develop innovation capabilities on their own; 2) the partner portfolios of CMEs with high growth rate are characterised by a smaller number of partners, lower level of repeated partnerships and higher collaboration intensity, while the low-growth CMEs just show an opposite trend; 3) universities have gradually become the most prominent partners of both high-growth and low-growth CMEs, but the firms are also experiencing a significant growth in their portfolios. By contrast, the role of research institutes is decreasing rapidly, especially in low-growth CMEs. Finally, four typical collaboration patterns are drawn from in-depth analysis of Chinese collaborating firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration between firms and universities, two main actors in the national system of innovation, brings the needs of the business world to the attention of the scientific community and allow scientific progress to be diffused more quickly in the real world. The aim of the paper is to compare the determinants of university-industry cooperation across countries and to identify differences between firms that cooperate with domestic and those that cooperate with foreign universities. We use data from 14 European countries taken from the 2008 community innovation survey. The degree of internationalisation is the main determinant of cooperation. Exporting or foreign-owned firms are more likely to cooperate with foreign universities. Differences in cooperation determinants also appear between the four country groupings that we extract by a cluster analysis on variables describing their institutional settings and national innovation systems. Notably different is the group of countries with a weak national innovation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the role of environmental innovation behavior in the economic and environmental performance of 182 Chinese firms. We established an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model and proposed seven hypotheses by combining TPB and environmental innovation theory. Through structure equation model, we found that attitude toward environment behavior, subjective environmental norm, perceived environment behavioral control positively impact environmental innovation intention. Environmental innovation behavior had a 0.232 larger effect on environmental performance than on economic performance. Production processes have a 0.028 greater positive influence on environmental performance than on economic performance. Enhancing environmental innovation promotes sustainable development. It is important to strengthen cleaner production processes to reduce environmental pollution. It is a significant obligation to conduct environment-related education or training for personnel within firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent decades have witnessed an increase in the number of eco-innovative solutions which improve the environmental performance of firms whilst also helping them remain competitive. However, the implementation of eco-innovation in Spain has faced certain difficulties, and the number of eco-innovations being put into practice is limited. This paper conceptualises ecoinnovation processes, in order to assist their adoption by firms. Also, the most relevant obstacles and incentives to eco-innovation are analysed, as well as the specific capacities and changes that eco-innovation involves for the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of credit allocation, this paper analyzes the effects of credit market development on the innovative capacities of industrial firms in the People's Republic of China. Using a large dataset of industrial firms in 31 provinces in the People's Republic of China, we find that credit market development enhances the probability of firms' product innovation and innovation outcomes. We further show that firms' credit constraints and firms' performances are two channels through which credit market development affects innovative capacities of firms. Our results are neither driven by the increase in the quantity of credit, nor by the increase in the number of firms in a province. The results are robust to different samples, different estimation methods, and alternative measures of credit market development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main approaches in the literature that describe the company's performance evaluation indicators and the influence that innovation activities have on performance growth. The impact of innovation on company performance extends from effects on turnover and market share to changes of productivity and efficiency. Research carried out falls into the theoretical research category, whose methodology is based on meta-analysis. Object of meta-analysis is the analysis of a number of ten relevant empirical studies which approach the relationship of innovation - performance at the enterprise level. Results of the studies analyzed show that, in general, innovation has significant positive effect on firm performance increase. The increase of this influence is favored of the managers involvement in innovation activities, of market orientation of the company and improving the relationship of internal and external communication. Key indicators for assessing the impact of innovation on overall performance which are used in empirical studies of researchers are represented by financial - accountants indicators: ROA, ROE, revenue growth, return on sales, productivity growth of factors and net profit growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper studies the link between knowledge, innovation, and growth in European regions using nonparametric methods. Our findings suggest that knowledge inputs and the share of innovative firms have a heterogeneous and nonlinear relationship with growth. This evidence has been exploited to examine the consequences of alternative policies using a counterfactual estimation setup, the results of which imply that increasing the formal knowledge base may be optimal in most regions. Less knowledge and innovation intensive regions will also benefit from a higher innovation potential and from a trustworthy and entrepreneurial economic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental innovation is an important way for enterprises to comply with environmental regulations and satisfy consumer demands. Based on a review of the relevant literature, this study examined the relationships among temporal cognition, environmental innovation, and the competitive advantage of enterprises along the logic of ‘cognition-behaviour-performance’, also incorporating environmental dynamism into the research model from a contingency perspective. A total of 219 enterprises in China's manufacturing industry were selected as the study sample. Hierarchical regression analysis and Sobel testing yielded the following results: long-term orientation had a positive effect on environmental product innovation and environmental process innovation, whereas polychronicity had a positive effect only on environmental process innovation; environmental process innovation was conducive to the enterprise acquisition of advantages of low cost and differentiation, whereas environmental product innovation can only improve the differentiation advantage. This study also concludes that environmental dynamism positively moderates the relationship between environmental process innovation and the differentiation advantage. This paper may contribute scientific value to stakeholder theory and cognition theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on open innovation (OI) is characterised by studies based both on large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Among all, one of the less explored issues in SMEs is what impedes them to adopt OI. Thus, this paper has the threefold objective to identify which factors hinder the adoption of OI in SMEs, to investigate if different behaviours exist among SMEs in relation to these factors, and to understand if the same factors effectively influence the level of adoption of OI. Based on a survey on 157 Italian SMEs, we identified four main barriers (namely, ‘knowledge’, ‘collaboration’, ‘organisational’, and ‘financial and strategic’) and three profiles of firms, different in terms of innovativeness of the industries they belong to (knowledge intensive, medium-innovative, and less innovative) and hampering factors perceived (‘knowledge’, ‘financial and strategic’, and ‘collaboration’ and ‘organisational’ barriers). Moreover, we found that some of these factors effectively impede the adoption of the paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Circular economy business model innovation is challenging, as it requires the consideration of new variables, adding complexity to decision-making. Despite the range of existing approaches for circular economy business model innovation, they are limited in providing adequate advice to practitioners. Key limitations are related to a lack of a holistic structure with systematisation of practices, focus on single innovation stages, lack of analytical and decision-support structures and marginal consideration of institutional and strategic aspects, and interdependencies with other business processes. This paper addresses these limitations by developing a systematic process model for circular economy business model innovation, in close collaboration with seven manufacturing companies. The process model contains four stages (prepare, sense, seize and transform) with recommendations of institutional, strategic and operational practices (including activities, tools, interdependencies, decision gates, and recommended mindset and attitudes). The process model brings unique contributions to manufacturing companies by providing: (i) a systematic structure to strengthen and mature existing circular economy business model ideas into viable and implementable concepts, and (ii) a source of inspiration for best practice circular economy business models in specific sectors. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the body of knowledge that develops circular economy methodology by (i) consolidating a holistic and systematic view of practices for circular economy business model innovation within manufacturing companies, and; (ii) providing an example of approach to develop methodological support that is able to offer proactive advice to practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature on the determinants for the development and adoption of ecoinnovations has generally focused on analysing the influence of business strategies and external drivers (public policy and stakeholder impacts) on innovation processes in firms. Internal factors to the firm such as resources, capabilities and competences (RCCs), which are important drivers of business strategies and innovation performance, are seldom considered in the literature. This paper builds an integrated framework that incorporates the impact of those firm's internal factors and their interactions with external drivers on the development and adoption of eco-innovations. The relevance of those factors regarding several dimensions of eco-innovation is illustrated with case studies. It is shown that, while all RCCs are relevant for the development and uptake of ecoinnovations, their relevance differs across eco-innovation dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a generation's time, collaborative methods of innovation have become a centerpiece of modern economic organization. Rather than creating technology primarily in-house, companies often enter into complex contractual arrangements whereby innovation processes cross firm boundaries. This collaborative approach gives a firm access to external expertise without executing a full acquisition. Collaboration poses a puzzle for theories of economic organization. On one hand, uncertainty is significant when firms are jointly creating new technology, which makes formal contracts highly incomplete. On the other hand, innovation networks often appear too dynamic and heterogeneous for the typical prerequisites for informal constraints to readily obtain. How then are innovation networks governed?. In an important series of papers, Professors Gilson, Sabel, and Scott argue that collaborating firms have devised a new variant of relational contracting to govern their joint efforts. This new governance form carefully blends formal agreements with informal contracts. The formal contract only indirectly governs the collaboration: instead of determining performance obligations, unique contractual provisions create an information-sharing regime that facilitates the development of informal constraints. In their parlance, formal contracts "braid" with informal social norms. Braided contracting theory is a provocative conceptual advance, but questions arise when it is applied beyond the case studies upon which Gilson et al. base their argument. A broad analysis of alliance agreements reveals that many alliances do not include braiding mechanisms in situations where Gilson et al.'s theory would expect them, raising the question of how to understand alliance diversity. This article argues that variation in alliance design is not surprising, however, if one takes a wider ranging view of the exchange hazards collaborators face. Braided contracting theory's limitation is that it conceives of the exchange problem only in terms of opportunism problems. Building upon overlooked scholarship, this Article argues that exchange hazards in innovation networks are multidimensional. Rather than tools for fostering informal constraints on opportunism, the unique provisions observed in alliance contracts directly address a broad confluence of problems collaborators face. Variation in alliance design is then understood as the result of those multiple exchange hazards recombining in different intensities across collaborations. This broader perspective of the contracting problem not only better explains the details of network governance but also refocuses our attention upon an important if unappreciated source of innovation networks' fragility -- the complex, often tenuous, interdependence between governance mechanisms. This novel theory of the contractual infrastructure supporting innovation networks also has immediate normative implications. Foremost, it clarifies important aspects of the case law involving disputes between collaborators, which prior scholarship has overlooked. Courts adjudicating disputes between collaborators do not pursue minimalistic intervention designed to protect informal relational contracts, as Gilson et al. argue, but directly address collaborative dysfunction in its full multidimensionality by leveraging multiple doctrines at once. Consistent with this reading of the case law are the unique dispute resolution systems often included in collaboration agreements. Those systems frequently bifurcate (or even trifurcate) dispute resolution on substantive grounds between different private and public tribunals. In short, the enforcement infrastructure is as multifaceted as the alliance agreements themselves. The result is a vision of innovation's private ordering more complex and theoretically rich than previously imagined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is considered to be one of the key factors that influence the long-term success of a company in the competitive markets of today. As a result, there is a growing interest in the further study of the determining factors of innovation. Today, the focus is on these factors related to people and behavior, emphasizing the role of organizational culture, as a factor that can both stimulate or restrain innovation, and therefore affect company performance. However, there is little empirical research linking these variables, particularly in the Spanish context. The purpose of this paper is to study these links by using a sample of industrial companies. The results show that culture can foster innovation, as well as company performance, or it could also be an obstacle for both of them, depending on the values promoted by the culture. It has been found specifically, that an adhocratic culture is the best innovation and performance predictor. Based on these results, it can be concluded that, innovation mediates the relationship between certain types of organizational cultures and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper comparatively analyzes syndromes Not-Invented-Here (NIH) and Not-Shared-Here (NSH) and their relationship with innovation performance (DI) and innovation capacities (CI) in business services and trade. In a cluster analysis methodology identified two groups of companies with similar characteristics: Innovative and Upset; an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also performed to establish meaningful differences in means. As for results, the groups differed in the DI, NIH, NSH variables and only in the CI, construct customer orientation; although, the most important finding indicates that differences in NSH are more significant than in NIH, probably because of the lag in the development of IC Technology Focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have provided valuable insights into the networking phenomenon and its impact on firms' performance. Nonetheless, a wide spectrum of issues remains unexplored. Using the network approach, this paper examines the different patterns of intermediation between otherwise disconnected firms and its impact on innovation performance. Our research was conducted on a well-known confectionery cluster in the Valencia region. The data allowed us to calculate four brokerage roles, depending on the affiliation of the organisations involved. Through these values, we open the ‘black box’ of brokerage by examining the differential contributions made to innovation performance by the coordinator, gatekeeper, representative, and liaison roles. These differences between roles are based on the tacit or explicit nature of the knowledge transferred and the specificities of each broker profile. Consequently, the research makes a relevant contribution to the network and cluster literatures and implies some useful recommendations for policy-makers and individual firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the inclusion of Mexico in the OECD, this research paper attempts to answer the question of technological innovation for increasing the competitiveness of the four largest firms in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico economically and socially based on their size and characteristics. The research was part of a study conducted in the southeast of Mexico and it was sponsored by the FORDECyT. The current model of the OECD (2009-2010) with standards on the appropriation of knowledge, adapted to the direct interview method was used for the analysis.Although the results showed a noticeable backwardness in the four companies analyzed regarding the appropriation of knowledge, they also show ethnic and cultural differences in the Maya peoples living in this region when it comes to social businesses. They adopt complete technological packages and / or globalizing market models. When facing the impossibility of adopting or appropriating socially the knowledge, they are dependent on their workforce or their ancestral patterns of production and exploitation of the main resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory-driven and theory-based studies on innovation in China are relatively scarce. Most innovation studies about Chinese business are based on Chinese policy and government programmes and their results. This special issue ofTechnology AnalysisandStrategic Managementexplores China's indigenous innovation strategy and suggests a research agenda that focuses on Chinese innovation theory building that incorporates China's efforts to move towards an innovation-based economy. Currently, China is developing its indigenous innovation capabilities (The Chinese term is 自主创新, pronounced zizhu chuangxin). We suggest that innovation studies of Chinese business could focus on these indigenous innovation ambitions. In addition to this, it could adopt, and be embedded in a Chinese theory of innovation instead of a traditional Western-centric theory of innovation. Our proposition is that to better understand Chinese indigenous innovation, a new paradigm of Chinese innovation should be developed. We therefore present a research agenda that can be a starting point for the development of such a theory, and present seven papers in this special issue that give content to this idea. Obviously no theory will have a monopoly on exploring Chinese innovation phenomena, but it is interesting to add a Chinese-centric view into the Western-centric scholarly view. We hope that will be one of the contributions of this special issue on innovation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While collaborative product development (CPD) is adopted by more and more firms as a business strategy, there is still lack of thorough research on the conditions under which the collaboration is formed. This paper proposes a mathematical model integrating trust, coordination, co-learning, and co-innovation dimensions of CPD. These dimensions, as well as additional parameters such as knowledge investment, absorption capability, efficacy, and complementarity enable the observation of the collaboration behavior under various scenarios. An analysis is conducted with Nash Bargaining approach to investigate the effect of various parameters on the collaboration formation as well as the revenue sharing. The analysis summary presents the optimum strategies for each scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies face demands of competitiveness like quality, diversification and innovation. Large companies are more prepared to compete, having an innovation culture and creating constant awareness. However, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face innovation barriers, which limit their capability to compete, and growth. This paper analyzes the relationship between the innovation barriers and the capability to be competitive and grow of SMEs. For this purpose, we took a sample of 152 SMEs in the manufacturing sector of the State of Aguascal¡entes (Mexico) to analyze the performed correlation between those variables, making use of a quantitative study. The results show empirical evidence about the influence of the innovation barriers with competitiveness and growth of the SMEs studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the internationalization of social economy companies generates balanced profit and loss accounts (triple bottom line) and spreads still further a way of doing business which focuses on a socially sustainable production economy, at a great distance from the speculative economy. Previous evidence of the differential and strategic fact of social economy companies and their need to internationalize in order to guarantee their sustainability triggered this investigation. Its aim was to generate knowledge about the international orientation of cooperative companies and worker-owned companies in Andalusia and to link this to their economic results and the outcome of their innovations. Confirming the Uppsala Model through the international orientation status of social economy companies in Andalusia, this paper shows how a series of specific factors, in addition to the relationship with increasing commercial innovation, have an impact on this orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) is broadly seen as an essential tool for competitiveness, particularly in today's fast-paced and complex global economy. However, there is a lack of research on the CE strategies of Asian companies in response to the Asian financial and the global financial crisis in developing Asian countries. In this study, the model of CE antecedents and effects is examined for 287 Thai managers at various levels within the targeted firms' operating in a wide variety of industries. Specifically, the impact of internal environment factors on CE and the relationship between CE and diverse firm performance aspects is mediated by process innovation. Results indicate that only three of the five antecedents to CE have primary effects on CE as well as process innovation. CE has a significant indirect effect on company performance through the mediation of process innovation. Process innovation is found to be a predictor of innovation performance and a predictor of marketing performance, which in turn affects financial outcomes. The implications of these results for both CE theory and practice are discussed. As there is a dearth of empirical research in this area, this paper makes a useful contribution by highlighting the CE initiatives of Thai companies to survive any future crises and the stiff competition present in the Asian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of catching and convergence at the level of firms, and investigates whether Korean firms tend to converge toward mature firms represented by the US firms in terms of their behavior and performance as well as firm-level innovations systems. It conducts regression analyses of several behavior and performance variables, using the data of the Korean and US firms during the 1990s, the 2000s, and 2010s. It finds some evidence of convergence, such that Korean firms become more profitability- rather than growth-oriented, borrowing and investing less, and thus being less indebted. However, they have not changed much in terms of their behavior toward firm values and dividend tendencies. Further analyses, using the patent-derived, innovation system variables, also confirm some aspects of convergence, compared with the early results, for which self-citations become significant and positive for firm values; furthermore, the variable of cycle time of technology is no longer significant for profitability, which is consistent with the results from the US firms. Meanwhile, changes in corporate governance associated with the rise of foreign shareholder are also shown to have resulted in higher profitability but insignificant change in firm values. An emerging conclusion is an ongoing but partially completed process of convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socially expected innovations are innovations considering sustainable development. The subject of the paper focuses on the business model of a start-up providing energy saving services to local government units using smart technologies of Industry 4.0 in the aspect of low touch economy. A methodical critical literature review including quantitative and qualitative assessment, stakeholder analysis and business modeling techniques using Business Model Canvas and Triple Layer Business Model Canvas (TLBMC) was conducted. In addition, an in-depth analysis of a start-up case study was conducted. The research questions are related to the interpretation of the organization's business data and methods of interpreting Sustainability 3.0 business solutions. The research questions were directed to the challenges regarding the creation of the organization's sustainable business model architecture and the Business Sustainability 3.0 sustainable business imaging concept. The research objective is to design a sustainable business model of a start-up providing energy-efficient services to local government units, whose value proposition refers to an extended sustainable value that meets the economic, social and environmental needs of society. The integration of sustainability in the sustainable business model of the start-up allowed to achieve the research objective of designing a sustainable value proposition that meets the economic, social and environmental needs of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, companies operate in business ecosystems where they collaborate, compete, share, and learn from others with benefits such as to present more attractive offerings and sharing innovation costs. With ecosystems being the new way of operating, the ability to strategically reposition oneself to increase or shift power balance is becoming key for competitive advantage. However, companies run into a number of traps when trying to realize strategical changes in their ecosystems. In this paper, we identify 5 traps that companies fall into. First, the "descriptive versus prescriptive trap" is when companies assume that current boundaries between partners are immutable. Second, the "assumptions trap" is when powerful ecosystem partners assume that they understand what others regard as value‐adding without validating their assumptions. Third, the "keeping it too simple trap" is when companies overlooks the effort required to align interests. Fourth, the "doing it all at once trap" is when companies disrupt an ecosystem assuming that all partners can change direction at the same time. Finally, the "planning trap" is when companies are unable to move forward without a complete plan. We provide empirical evidence for each trap, and we propose an ecosystem engagement process for how to avoid falling into these. Key findings: Repositioning in the ecosystem is fraud with risks. We identify the key traps that companies fall into, as well as provide guidance on how to avoid them when transitioning from current to desired state by shifting power between ecosystem partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prospective authors are requested to submit new, unpublished manuscripts for inclusion in the upcoming event described in this call for papers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]