Rok 2009
Aaboen L (2009) Explaining incubators using firm analogy. Technovation 29:657-670 Incubators are initiated to accelerate the development of new technology-based firms. Policy actors see them as a tool to initiate or revive innovativeness in regions and universities as a way to commercialize research results. However, even though the intended results of the incubator are good it is not known how the incubator should be managed and organized in order to achieve this end. When faced with a new type of organizations analogies can provide insights gathered from other contexts. To contribute to the further understanding of incubators this paper discuss the implications, in terms of highlighted dimensions and further clarifications needed when using the analogy of a firm. The paper uses empirical findings from six incubators. The discussion shows it is not clear who is the actual customer of the incubator. For example, can the policy actors that provide the funding to the incubator be seen as a customer paying for the service of regional revival and the NTBFs Customers when their fees are not in relation to the services they are provided? In the discussion it is suggested that the incubator can have many customers with different value creation processes or no customers depending on the viewpoint taken.
Abramo G, D'Angelo CA, Di Costa F, Solazzi M (2009) University-industry collaboration in Italy: A bibliometric examination. Technovation 29:498-507 This work investigates public-private research collaboration between Italian universities and domestic industry, applying a bibliometric type of approach. The study is based on an exhaustive listing of all co-authored publications in international journals that are jointly realized by Italian university scientists and researchers in the private sector; this listing permits the development of a national mapping system for public-private collaboration that is unique for its extensive and representative character. It is shown that, in absolute terms, most collaborations occur in medicine and chemistry, while it is industrial and information engineering that shows the highest percentage of co-authored articles Out of all articles in the field. In addition, the investigation empirically examines and tests several hypotheses concerning the qualitative-quantitative impact of collaboration on the scientific production of individual university researchers. The analyses demonstrate that university researchers who collaborate with those in the private sector show research performance that is superior to that of colleagues who are not involved in such collaboration. But the impact factor of journals publishing academic articles co-authored by industry is generally lower than that concerning co-authorships with other entities. Finally, a further specific elaboration also reveals that publications with public-private co-authorship do not show a level of multidisciplinarity that is significantly different from that of other publications.
Al-Somali SA, Gholami R, Clegg B (2009) An investigation into the acceptance of online banking in Saudi Arabia. Technovation 29:130-141 Although a regional leader, Internet banking in Saudi Arabia is yet to be fully utilised as a value-adding tool to improve customer relationships and achieve cost advantages. The aim of this study was to identify the factors that encourage customers to adopt online banking in Saudi Arabia. The research constructs were developed based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and incorporated some extra important control variables. The model was empirically verified to examine the factors influencing the online banking adoption behaviour of 400 customers. The findings of the study suggests that the quality of the Internet connection, the awareness of online banking and its benefits, the social influence and computer self-efficacy have significant effects on the perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) of online banking acceptance. Education, trust and resistance to change also have significant impact on the attitude towards the likelihood of adopting online banking. The implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented.
Albors-Garrigos J (2009) Innovation Management and New Product Development, 4th edition. R & D Management 39:226-228
Albors-Garrigos J, Hidalgo A, Hervas-Oliver JL (2009) The Role of Knowledge-intensive Service Activities (KISA) in Basic Agro-food Processes Innovation: The Case of Orange Packers in Eastern Spain. Asian Journal of Technology Innovation 17:31-55 The relevance of innovation in services has been outlined by the knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) concept, which has been empirically and theoretically developed in the context of service innovation. The conceptual and methodology approach of knowledge-intensive service activities (KISA) links the production of knowledge to innovative activities, and has become a relevant focus for the analysis of innovation within a firm. Though relatively new, it has been given a great deal of attention by practitioners and academics in the last five years. This paper will explore, analyze, and compare the ways in which knowledge-intensive activities occur in a small cluster of mature and low-tech industries: orange and lemon selection in Spain. The paper aims to assess the impact of KISA on the firm's innovation and performance, as well as to analyze whether KISA occurrence is correlated with certain characteristics of firms such as size, organizational profile, market focus, and other characteristics. A model correlating these variables will additionally be proposed and validated.
Alcorta L, Tomlinson M, Liang AT (2009) Knowledge Generation and Innovation in Manufacturing Firms in China. Industry and Innovation 16:435-461 This paper explores and measures the knowledge generation process through identifying and examining the latent factor structure of the individual, managerial and cognitive dimensions of knowledge generation and investigating how these factors may relate to each other and to product innovation in the context of firms in China. We applied exploratory factor analysis and conducted a survey in Jiangsu province which is a main location of manufacturing activity and a large recipient of investment in science and technology in China. We found that individual and managerial factors included individual depth of knowledge, organizational commitment, academic orientation and managerial features, while cognitive factors involved developing a global and local knowledge base and engaging in imitative, embodied and/or minimalist learning strategies. The study also uncovered close associations between the depth of knowledge of individuals and their ability to develop a global knowledge base and between a minimalist learning strategy and the existence of a local knowledge base.
Alford P, Clarke S (2009) Information technology and tourism a theoretical critique. Technovation 29:580-587 This paper aims to initiate a debate regarding the paradigms underpinning the planning and implementation of IT in multi-stakeholder scenarios in the tourism sector. The problem is stated as: "how do we ensure that, as technological solutions are implemented within tourism, due consideration is given to human-centred issues?" The approach taken in this paper is to undertake a critique of the field-enabled by the application of a framework borrowed from social theory. A critique of three tourism case studies of failed IT implementation points to the dominance of a Postpositivist mindset which, it is argued, has contributed to the failure through its inability to manage the complexity of the human system involved. Critical Theory is suggested as an alternative paradigm, with its emphasis on the normative structures through which stakeholders view the world. Habemas' theory of communicative action offers a framework for identifying these structures and is recommended as an avenue for future research.
Aminullah E (2009) Long-range Planning to Foster Innovation in Indonesia. Asian Journal of Technology Innovation 17:49-70 This paper will assess innovation policy as a process of rational planning. The analysis focuses on the new direction and content of innovation policy, as well as on the conditional factors for a successful long-term implementation of innovation policy. The rational planning on innovative capability should be motivated by the realization of a knowledge-based economy. Long-term forecasting of technology and economic growth should support long-range planning in Indonesia. Learning from the experience of past policies, the future implication for the success of innovation policy implementation in Indonesia should be determined by i) authority of policy execution, ii) synergy of cross-sectors policy, and iii) efficacy of policy instruments. The key success factor in conditioning the three factors would depend on favorable public support in the form of political will from the government and innovative entrepreneurial spirit from the private sector.
Andersen PH, Drejer I (2009) Together we share? Competitive and collaborative supplier interests in product development. Technovation 29:690-703 While supplier involvement in product development projects can contribute with valuable knowledge and expertise, such involvement also poses organizational and managerial challenges. particularly if several rival suppliers are involved. This paper explores these challenges in the wind turbine industry, based on two interrelated Danish case studies, The analysis results in three propositions regarding how supplier rivalry and technological specialization influences roles, coordination patterns and communication between actors in distributed product development projects.
Andersson M, Hellerstedt K (2009) Location Attributes and Start-ups in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services. Industry and Innovation 16:103-121 This paper examines start-ups in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) across Swedish regions by individuals with a formally recognized capacity to produce and develop advanced business services. The empirical analysis focuses on whether their involvement in entrepreneurship may be explained by location attributes. As much as 75 percent of the KIBS founders have prior work experience from business services, suggesting that KIBS start-ups are more frequent in regions where the KIBS sector is already large. Controlling for the stock of potential entrepreneurs and the stock of KIBS firms, it is shown that variables reflecting both supply-side conditions and market size influence KIBS start-up activity. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that KIBS entrepreneurship in a region is stimulated by the simultaneous presence of (i) knowledge resources conducive for the generation and diffusion of knowledge and ideas upon which new firms can be established and (ii) a large market.
Angel PO, Sanchez LS (2009) R&D managers' adaptation of firms' HRM practices. R & D Management 39:271-290 The heads of R&D departments are those most responsible for the adaptation of firms' human resource management (HRM) practices to the idiosyncrasies of their departments. From their description, this paper analyzes the HRM practices in R&D departments and the adaptation achieved in four different firms. The data suggest that the main adaptations are produced primarily in recruiting and organizing the work of R&D personnel. In contrast to suggestions in the specialized literature, less adaptation is found in other HRM practices analyzed (managerial support and degree of delegation, compensation and career plans). Psychological theories of procedural justice and social comparison can improve our understanding of such results. The organizational structure affects the reference group for such comparisons and, consequently, the R&D managers' capacity to adapt such practices. Based on these arguments, the delegation of HRM practices to R&D departments will enhance the degree of adaptation of such policies.
Aronson ZH, Lechler TG (2009) Contributing beyond the call of duty: examining the role of culture in fostering citizenship behavior and success in project-based work. R & D Management 39:444-460 Shifting goals, priorities and evolving customer demands require an exceptional effort, beyond the call of duty, on the part of employees to increase the likelihood for successful implementation of technologically driven projects. Our model posits that citizenship behavior, which captures individuals' behavior that goes above and beyond prescribed roles, effects project success and is influenced by the culture that exists in the project. We provide support for the model utilizing 222 participants in 71 product development, IT implementation and engineering projects, originating in firms from various industries in the United States using structural equation modeling. Owing to the constraints typically facing project managers, in terms of personnel availability and control over rewards, our findings suggest that project culture can be used by managers as an alternative lever to trigger employees' citizenship behavior, which in turn drives success. We provide valuable implications for individuals assigned to lead projects, who are concerned with aligning project culture with citizenship behavior, as part of their planning activities.
Asgari B, Yen LW (2009) Accumulated Knowledge and Technological Progress in Terms of Learning Rates: A Comparative Analysis on the Manufacturing Industry and the Service Industry in Malaysia. Asian Journal of Technology Innovation 17:71-99 Known as the largest exporter of rubber and tin for decades, Malaysia began its industrialization by shifting from agriculture towards the manufacturing industry. This study shows the recent signs of Malaysia's transition from an industrial to a post-industrial age. This is similar to Japan's transition from an industrial society in the 1980s, with manufacturing technology at its center, to a knowledge-based society, with information technology as its core, in the 1990s. Studying the Malaysian industries' technological progress suggests that Malaysia is about to undergo a transition from a dominating industrial age towards an economy with a strong service industry. Continuous technological learning and management should be emphasized to help Malaysian industries in adjusting to a new era of global challenges while remaining highly competitive. Measuring and monitoring technological learning is essential for technological capacity building and for policy management. This study measured the learning rates in the manufacturing and service industries of Malaysia. A dynamic cubic learning curve model was incorporated into a neoclassical production function and was used to measure learning coefficients in the Malaysian manufacturing and service industries. The findings demonstrated that the learning trend in each sub-sector in both the manufacturing and service industries behaved in three distinct manners: convex with a minimum, concave with a maximum, and concave with no maximum. The identification of the performing, forgetting, and non-performing years of each individual industry attests to the dynamism in the technological learning of Malaysia's manufacturing and service industries.
Asheim BT, Ejermo O, Rickne A (2009) When is Regional Beautiful? Implications for Knowledge Flows, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Introduction. Industry and Innovation 16:1-9
Athaide GA, Klink RR (2009) Managing Seller-Buyer Relationships during New Product Development. Journal of Product Innovation Management 26:566-577 Ineffective relationship management with potential buyers during new product development (NPD) can be an important contributor to new product failure in technology-based, industrial markets. However, empirical research on managing these relationships remains underdeveloped. This study addresses this deficiency by developing an empirically based taxonomy of relationship approaches used by sellers to develop technology-based, industrial innovations, identifying situational characteristics that correlate with the choice of a particular relationship approach, and evaluating sellers' satisfaction with their relationship approach. The study's conceptual model is rooted in transaction cost analysis (TCA) and draws from extant literature on seller-buyer relationships during NPD. It was tested with data from 334 small to mid-sized firms in a variety of technology-based industrial markets. The results indicate that sellers use three basic relationship approaches during NPD: a bilateral approach, a buyer-guided approach, and a seller-guided approach. While the bilateral approach relies on a mutual exchange of information, the buyer-guided and seller-guided approaches do not. Juxtaposed with the high levels of satisfaction experienced by sellers in the sample, the study suggests that no one relationship approach is universally desirable. Therefore, managers may need to engage in a portfolio of relationship approaches with buyers during NPD; further, these approaches should correlate with buyer-related (i.e., perceived buyer knowledge and prior relationship history) and innovation-related (i.e., product customization and technological uncertainty) characteristics. Collectively, these results can help sellers optimize their relationships with buyers during NPD.