No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Practitioners’ forum
Abstract
This article reviews a number of models of the process of technological innovation and identtities the important elements involved. Although no universal model is applicable to all processes of technological innovation, given the importance of technology in the long-tern strategy of research-intensive trns , a knowledge of the elements involved in the process is essential to today's managers. Models of the process of innovation must be developed contingent upon thejirn's needs. The critical factors, which must be conszdered when developing such a model, are identified.
... The evolution of innovation management models has been rapid, often categorized into first and second-generation models, distinguished by their linear approach to the innovation process. Technological innovation is conceptualized as a conversion process, wherein inputs are transformed into products through a series of steps spanning from knowledge generation to product commercialization [17]. ...
... Initially, this process was viewed simply as two stages: ideation or invention, followed by subsequent commercialization. [17][18] expand on this by introducing a third stage: idea development through problem-solving, culminating in implementation, and dissemination involving engineering, manufacturing, marketing testing, and promotion. ...
... Previous studies and application cases of Open Innovation provide good practices in terms of actors, with an emphasis on "solvers" and "seekers". However, the literature is not extensive with 17 analysis for MGi in the Leather sector. In the intentional review of literature, it was observed that research in MGi is punctual and for specific topics. ...
This article aims to present the outcomes of a study focused on collaboratively developing an Innovation Management Model (IMG) tailored for Colombia's leather agro-industrial chain. The study integrates stakeholder participation, prioritization of variables, literature review, and model validation, emphasizing sustainability considerations throughout the process. Methodologically, it involved a literature review using Scopus, focusing on innovation management models, open innovation, and sustainability, particularly within the leather sector. The search identified 43 documents in Scopus, of which 15 were directly relevant; this analysis was complemented by 18 articles from Google Scholar. Three surveys were conducted to prioritize variables, utilizing Lik-ert-scale questions to assess relevance and congruence. Conceptual innovation models were validated graphically. Initial variables were identified, with 53 selected for the entry stage, 36 for the transformation stage, and 31 for the exit stage. These variables were classified for each stage, resulting in three innovation management models for validation. Key findings included 26 critical variables covering aspects such as agricultural and technological innovation in platforms and projects, capacity development, R&D activities, supply chain dynamics, innovation management processes, knowledge and technology integration, business model adaptation for sustainable development, and environmental impact assessment. The prioritized innovation model is in-tended to assist stakeholders in the leather sector's innovation system by promoting open inno-vation strategies, sustainable and regenerative innovation generation, and enhancing strategic and technological capacities. The prioritized innovation model aims to assist stakeholders in the leather sector's innovation system by promoting open innovation strategies, sustainable and re-generative innovation generation, and enhancing strategic and technological capacities.
... The evolution of innovation management models was rapid, often categorized into first-and second-generation models, distinguished by their linear approach to the innovation process. Technological innovation is conceptualized as a conversion process, wherein inputs are transformed into products through a series of steps spanning from knowledge generation to product commercialization [17]. ...
... Refs. [17,18] expand on this by introducing a third stage: idea development through problem-solving, culminating in implementation, and dissemination involving engineering, manufacturing, marketing testing, and promotion. ...
This article presents the results of a study focused on collaboratively developing an Innovation Management Model (MGI) for the leather agro-industrial chain in Colombia. This study integrates the participation of interested parties, the prioritization of variables, the literature review, and the validation of the model, emphasizing sustainability considerations throughout the process. The methodology involved a literature review, using Scopus and Google Scholar, focusing on innovation management models, open innovation, and sustainability of the leather sector. In addition, three surveys were conducted to prioritize the established variables, using Likert scale questions, to assess relevance and congruence. Key findings included 26 critical variables covering aspects such as agricultural and technological innovation in platforms and projects, capacity development, R&D activities, supply chain dynamics, innovation management processes, knowledge and technology integration, business model adaptation for sustainable development, and environmental impact assessment. The prioritized innovation model aims to guide stakeholders to define open innovation strategies, sustainable and regenerative innovation generation, and improvement of strategic and technological capabilities.
... En el contexto competitivo actual, el creciente interés por la innovación y su supuesta relación con el crecimiento económico (Valencia-De-Lara y Patlán-Peréz, 2011a, 2011b), han favorecido los estudios en torno a la innovación (Forrest, 1991), entendida esta como una serie de actividades, un proceso ordenado (Godin, 2015), una secuencia de acontecimientos o esquematizaciones de historias ( Van-de-Ven, Polley, Garud, y Venkataraman, 2008) orientados hacia la obtención de una ventaja competitiva temporal o absoluta (Rammer, 2006) y conceptualizadas a través de los llamados modelos de innovación. Modelos de innovación que han tratado de ser caracterizados por diversos autores, discusión en donde algunos plantean no haber llegado hasta la fecha a un consenso general sobre el tema, evidente a través de la ausencia de un modelo generalizable e integrador (Cooper, 1983;Godin, 2015;Hobday, 2005), mientras que otros los clasifican superficialmente en modelos corporativos propios de organizaciones maduras y en modelos de emprendimiento típicos de compañías nacientes (Freeman y Engel, 2007). ...
... Autor Propuesta Chin, 1961) Modelo para el desarrollo, de sistemas y para el cambio Clark, 1968) Modelo de crecimiento orgánico, de diferenciación, de difusión y del proceso combinado Allen, 1967aAllen, , 1967b Modelo de izquierda a derecha y el modelo "wheel, hub and axle" Schon, 1967) Modelo racional y no racional Havelock, 1970) Modelo simple reflex y el racional de resolución de problemas Robertson, 1971) Modelo de adopción, de jerarquía a efectos y AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) Langrish, Gibbons, Evans, y Jevons, 1972) Modelo de descubrimientopush y de demandapull. Crane, 1972) Modelo acumulativo (secuencial), aleatorio y de la curva logística Zaltman, Duncan, y Holbeck, 1973) Modelo orientado al individuo y modelo orientado a la organización Mulkay, 1975) Modelo de apertura, cerrado y ramificado Kelly y Kranzberg, 1978 Modelo de fases de proceso y de flujo Von Hippel, 1978 Modelo activo de producción y activo de clientes Schmidt-Tiedemann, 1982 Modelo de tubería, sistemático, combinado y de concomitancia Tornatzky et al., 1983 Modelo centrado en la tecnología y modelo de tecnología centrado en el usuario Pinch y Bijker, 1984 Modelo lineal y multidimensional Saren, 1984 Modelo departamental, de actividades por etapas, de decisión por etapas, del proceso de conversión y de respuesta Kline y Rosenberg, 1986 Modelo lineal y de cadena Coombs, Saviotti, y Walsh, 1987 Modelo lineal, evolutivo y epidémico Van de Ven, 1989 Modelo de desarrollo del grupo, del proceso de decisión, de planificación organizacional, de procesos de innovación y de cambio y desarrollo organizacional Forrest, 1991 Modelo por etapas, de conversión, de tecnología push / mercadopull, integrado y de decisión Ziman, 1991 Modelo lineal, cíclico y de red neuronal Newby, 1992 Modelo lineal e interactivo Rothwell, 1992 Modelo de tecnologíapush, de mercadopull, de acoplamiento, integrado, de integración estratégica y de redes Chris Freeman, 1996) Modelo lineal y sistemático Una vez se extraen los datos sobre autor, título, fuente y resumen, se pasa a procesar estos datos a través del software VOSviewer® versión 1.6.4.; con esta información se realiza un análisis bibliométrico (aplicación de métodos matemáticos y estadísticos a libros, artículos y otros medios de comunicación) para medir cantidad, desempeño e incluso algunos indicadores estructurales que determinan las conexiones entre publicaciones, autores y áreas de investigación que permiten vislumbrar el estado actual de la discusión sobre el tema a partir de índices (resultados numéricos) y mapas (representaciones gráficas) (Durieux y Gevenois, 2010; Romo-Jiménez, Valencia-De-Lara, y Escobar-Sierra, 2017). A continuación, se presenta en la Figura 1 el mapa de conocimiento para los modelos de innovación clasificado por segmento de análisis y concurrencia de los términos en las bases de datos seleccionadas. ...
El propósito del presente estudio es proponer un nuevo modelo de innovación para el contexto organizacional, ante la falta de consenso en torno al tema y la ausencia de un modelo de innovación generalizable e integrador. Para lograr este objetivo se desarrolla un análisis bibliométrico mediante el software VOSviewer®, que permite identificar conceptos recurrentes a los modelos de innovación, entre los que se resaltan la competitividad, las organizaciones, las culturas y los sistemas. Posteriormente, estos hallazgos pasan a ser contrastados con en el caso de estudio colombiano, que sirve como fundamento para proponer un nuevo modelo de innovación para el contexto organizacional, desde su relación con las partes interesadas y el emprendimiento corporativo, en donde el punto de partida y de llegada son las mismas organizaciones y las partes interesadas quienes desarrollan sus procesos de innovación siguiendo alguno de los modelos referenciados en la literatura. Finalmente, se resalta la importancia de incluir nuevos actores que propicien la interdisciplinariedad de los estudios sobre innovación, la medición de sus resultados, la aplicación del modelo propuesto en contexto empíricos para propiciar su generalización, la definición de políticas e instrumentos públicos conexos que permitan ampliar al alcance del modelo, entre otros.
... The current competitive environment, growing interest in innovation, and its presumed relationship with economic growth have fostered research on how companies manage innovation ( Forrest, 1991), which is understood as a series of organizational activities aimed at obtaining a temporary or absolute competitive advantage ( Rammer, 2006). Various authors have developed models for managing innovation, both at the corporate level and among entrepreneurs ( Freeman & Engel, 2007) (see Table 1), but to date, no broad consensus on a comprehensive, generalizable model has been reached ( Cooper, 1983;Godin, 2015;Hobday, 2005). ...
... Saren (1984) Departmental-stage, activities-stage, decision-stage, conversion process, and response models Kline and Rosenberg (1986) Linear and chain-linked models Coombs, Saviotti, and Walsh (1987) Linear, evolutionary, and epidemic models Van de Ven (1989) Group development, decision-making process, organizational planning, organizational change, and development and innovation processes models Forrest (1991) Stage-based, conversion, technology-push/market-pull, integrated, and decisionmaking models Newby (1992) Linear and interactive models Rothwell (1992) Technology-push, market-pull, linkages, integrated, strategic integration, and network models C. Freeman (1996) Linear and systematic models Huse, & Senneseth, 1999;Merrifield, 1993) and is currently widely considered a source of competitive advantages that are sustainable and profitable over the long term ( Hornsby, Kuratko, Shepherd, & Bott, 2009;Kuratko, Hornsby, & Bishop, 2005). As a field of research, CE is the product of several constructs ( Fang, 2013;Kuratko, 2010) that have been studied from different perspectives and then synthesized by several authors such as Fang (2013) through a system composed of preconditions, processes and outcomes. ...
This paper aims to propose a new model for the manner in which companies manage innovation. To that end, some of the most important research on the topic is analyzed and summarized through a review of its historical background in the indexed databases in WoS (Web of Science) and an analysis of frequently used terms over the past 15 years (2001-2016). The analysis is developed through bibliometric techniques using VOSviewer software, version 1.6.4, seeking to identify recurring and related concepts, such as corporate entrepreneurship, that can leverage company innovation management from the strategy, inherent factors related to human resources and the environment in which the organization operates. Henceforth, this paper focuses on a new model to manage innovation in companies through a conceptualization of innovation and corporate entrepreneurship, this model can be useful in countries with low levels of cooperation between stakeholders and scarce resources, countries on bias of development like Latin America, Africa and some Asian countries. It can be concluded that the company innovation should start with the definition of its strategy, taking into account factors like the human talent and the environment in which the organization is operating, through customized innovation processes that can be applied following some of the multiple models referred to in the literature, framed within the needs of different stakeholders, as indicators of organizational performance. Therefore, the actors which are part of the model are: employees, clients, state, suppliers, academics, community, shareholders and business. © Manuela Escobar-Sierra, Luis Augusto Lara-Valencia, Pilar Valencia-DeLara, 2017.
... In the context of the agro-industrial food sector, particularly citrus fruits, various approaches and applications have been proposed. For instance, research has highlighted numerous innovation initiatives that involve a broad range of stakeholders, including clients, suppliers, universities, and governmental and non-governmental organizations, despite this sector's relatively low technological development [28][29][30][31][32][33]. Collaborative innovation processes are imperative for organizations within agro-industrial chains, particularly the food sector [34,35]. ...
This paper proposes a sustainable innovation management model (hereinafter MGI) aimed at enhancing sustainability and leveraging open innovation opportunities within the Citrus agro-industrial chain in the Quindío Department, Colombia. The methodology combines surveys, consensus percentages, relevance and congruence indices, and a review of the literature from the last ten years, particularly in the Google Scholar and Scopus databases. A total of 97 documents directly related to innovation management in the citrus sector were reviewed, along with 58 indirect references. Through three questionnaires, 120 variables were identified, categorized into input (53), transformation (36), and output (31) stages. The findings, supported by sector analysis and foresight studies conducted for six regional agro-industrial chains, led to the development of three potential MGI models, one of which was selected for further application. The study highlights several challenges within the citrus value chain, including weak leadership, limited market competitiveness, outdated organizational structures, slow adoption of advanced technologies, and inadequate investment. The proposed MGI, with a focus on sustainable innovation, offers a generic interactive model that presents a dynamic and adaptable solution to drive competitiveness and value creation in the citrus sector. The chain studied requires not only the participation of different interest groups, but also the application of artificial intelligence to close the gaps and allow for sustainable innovation to be generated of sustainable innovation.
... They are often classified into first-and secondgeneration models. These models apply a sequential series of stages across different organizational domains, achieving significant contributions in technological aspects and market attraction [39,40]. A more recent model, open innovation, has emerged as the latest paradigm in innovation management. ...
This study proposes a sustainable Innovation Management Model (MGI) for the plantain agroindustrial chain, applied to the Quindío region of Colombia. A mixed-methods approach was employed, incorporating various techniques, including a systematic literature review using the Scopus database, which analyzed 95 documents through the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework. The identification and prioritization of relevant variables, along with the validation of the proposed model, were also conducted through the use of three questionnaires, supplemented by relevance and congruence indices. The analysis identified 53 variables for the entry stage, 36 for the transformation stage, and 31 for the exit stage. The findings revealed significant gaps within the agroindustrial chain, particularly in areas such as leadership, strategic management, and resilience among key stakeholders. The MGI, as prioritized by stakeholders, provides a framework that integrates variables and information flows, facilitating the development of new open innovation challenges. These challenges engage not only seekers—entities that require innovation—but also solvers—organizations that offer solutions. The implementation of this model will require supportive public policies, projects, and web platforms, such as Innocentive/Wazoku, Ninesigma, Ruta N, Yet2.com, Itonics, and Ennomotive, which, with the aid of artificial intelligence, can connect innovation supply and demand through open challenges.
... This study aims to fill this gap by following the TOE framework, which primarily evaluates the factors influencing information technology adoption from an organizational perspective (Forrest, 1991), to explore the reasons behind the slow adoption of this promising technology in ASCs. The study identifies three critical factors relevant to the context under investigation: security and privacy (technological dimension), management support (organizational dimension), and policy support (environmental dimension). ...
The purpose of this study is to explore factors influencing the blockchain adoption in agricultural supply chains, to make a particular focus on how security and privacy considerations, policy support, and management support impact the blockchain adoption intention. it further investigates perceived usefulness as a mediating variable that potentially amplifies the effects of these factors on blockchain adoption intention, and sets perceived cost as a moderating variable to test its influence on the strength and direction of the relationship between perceived usefulness and adoption intention. through embedding the cost-benefit theory into the integrated tam-toe framework and utilizing the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method, this study identifies the pivotal factors that drive or impede blockchain adoption in the agricultural supply chains, which fills the gap of the relatively insufficient research on the blockchain adoption in agriculture field. the results further provide empirical evidence and strategic insights that can guide practical implementations, to equip stakeholders or practitioners with the necessary knowledge to navigate the complexities of integrating cutting-edge technologies into traditional agricultural operations, thereby promoting more efficient, transparent, and resilient agricultural supply chains.
... We also found support for Forrest (1991) who argued that the interaction between the R&D team and other teams and individuals leads to the initial knowledge in the innovation-decision process. For instance, one of the participants from Round 2 mentioned that they had formal and informal channels of research to look at blockchain technology and its uses. ...
An overview of challenges around blockchain adoption has revealed that there is little understanding of the process of blockchain adoption decisions, including who needs to be involved and consulted at various stages. When systems are designed to intentionally protect privacy or to obscure actors, such as blockchain platforms, it can be challenging to identify them and to understand their roles. To do this we used an Innovation Translation approach from Actor-Network Theory (Latour, 2007) which looks at the roles of both human and non-human actors. To understand the interactions among the actors involved, multiple rounds of interviews were conducted with Blockchain experts, utilising the qualitative Delphi method. The findings of this study propose a framework that provides insight into the decision-process by exploring the actors involved and their roles as they implement strategies to adopt blockchain and to convince other actors. The outcomes will assist blockchain practitioners and researchers to have an understanding of pre-adoption decisions and stakeholder involvement. Organisations considering implementing blockchain will benefit from this research as they will know where to start, who to engage, and which stakeholders are needed during the decision-making process.
... Es necesario disponer de mecanismos que ayuden a gestionar sistemáticamente la innovación (Burns & Stalker, 1961;Christensen, 1997;Kanter, 1983;Leonard-Barton, 1992;Parker, 1982), y la mejor forma es a través de los modelos de innovación, pero es muy difícil que un modelo pueda abarcar todas las circunstancias que se pueden dar en el proceso de innovación, por eso, muchos autores afirman que no existe un único modelo general de gestión (Forrest, 1991;Hobday, 2005), que es muy difícil de conseguir o, incluso, imposible, pudiendo suponer un grave problema instaurar un único modelo de gestión para cualquier tipo de empresa o para cualquier tipo de innovación, donde los directivos fuercen los procesos a un modelo concreto sin tener en cuenta las particularidades de cada caso concreto (King y Anderson, 2003). Se podría afirmar que no existe una receta mágica para la gestión de la innovación, pero sí un marco genérico que permita trabajar y adaptarse a cada empresa según sea su sector, tamaño, estructura o estrategia (Hengsberger, 2018). ...
Introducción/Objetivo:
fomentar la competitividad del tejido industrial desde la innovación es un reto que es adquirido por la Administración pública, para garantizar el desarrollo de los entornos empresariales que no disponen de procesos bien definidos que les permita gestionar correctamente dicha innovación. La investigación que se presenta muestra cómo esta administración se comporta a modo de catalizador de innovación que innovando es capaz de propiciar un marco de confluencia entre actores públicos-privados, que cooperan para cocrear un nuevo modelo de gestión que ayude a la empresa a sistematizar la innovación con unos niveles de calidad aceptados por los participantes y que propicie la cultura innovadora en la empresa.
Metodología:
la Administración va a innovar para, empleando la cocreación como eje central, generar un nuevo modelo de gestión de la innovación, con un procedimiento learning by doing que ayude a las empresas a adquirir estas rutinas y protocolos para ser capaces de adaptarse al cambio y a crear cultura innovadora.
Resultados:
el producto mínimo viable de un nuevo modelo de gestión incluyó un proceso con cuatro fases, de seis meses de duración cada una, reforzado con una serie de servicios de apoyo y herramientas de trabajo.
Conclusiones:
se ha mostrado el desarrollo de un proceso de innovación liderado desde la gestión pública, que mediante el ejercicio de cocreación ha sido capaz de propiciar la colaboración público-privada de los diferentes actores del ecosistema de innovación a escala regional. Así, ha dado lugar a un modelo capaz de sistematizar la gestión de la innovación del tejido empresarial motivando su competitividad.
... Organizations are open systems that feed on their external environment while also feeding back to this environment (Forrest, 1991). The interdependence of firms with their environment leads to innovation systems. ...
Countries adopt different policies and strategies to boost regional growth and competitiveness. R&D is one of the most important drivers of national competitiveness because of its ability to generate knowledge and convert that knowledge into useful information to improve people’s lives and maintain economic prosperity. Innovation emerges within innovation systems. Such systems encourage collaboration among institutional and economic agents. One of the main groups of agents that foster such collaboration consists of innovation intermediaries. Technology centers (TCs) are a prime example of such intermediaries, which exert a positive impact on the business sector. Given the numerous factors influencing TC efficiency, this paper studies the key variables associated with this efficiency, providing a ranking of these variables based on the views of innovation system experts. To evaluate these variables, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used. Of the six areas identified as essential for TC activity, the impact of TCs and the types of actions they undertake are the most important aspects for improving TC and business efficiency, as well as regional competitiveness. This study highlights the role of TCs in helping companies respond to challenges with innovative solutions that foster a strong, competitive, and innovative regional business sector.
... There have been several endeavours at modelling the dynamics inherent in the process of technological innovation (for example Forrest, 1991;Dodgson and Rothwell, 1995;Tidd, Bessant and Pavitt, 2005; Chen and Vanhaverbeke, 2019); however, the complexities of the interactions between the various interwoven technological and societal issues have led to frequent revisions. To examine this process, external and multidisciplinary knowledge is needed to define what is entailed within the technological change and how the phenomenon of performativity (within the context of innovation) affects societies (Cecez-Kecmanovic and Kautz, 2013). ...
Technological innovation is a process that involves the intertwining of social, cognitive, and material elements. The relationship among these features is non-linear, complex, and possesses the ability to transform as well as inform the configuration of markets, tools, users, and social environments. The concept of performativity can be used to explain this phenomenon. This paper identifies the performative elements present in the context of technological innovation and maps the social factors and the use of cognitive features in the innovation process. This identification explicitly addresses the entanglement of the material and social influences in the process, defines the agency of technological change, and focuses on the impact the nature of a technology has on the configuration of a market. A conceptual model of performativity in the innovation process is proposed.
This study examines the construction of each search strategy that combines search space, depth and network into innovation. It approaches a search as a problem-discovery process, which occurs during all phases of a problem-solving process. It selects three cases of LG Household and Healthcare’s product and process innovation, which typically occur in the cosmetics industry, where many cosmetic firms have conducted problem discoveries of oriental knowledge for product and process innovation. Knowledge of oriental medicine and fermentation are called, as oriental knowledge is traditionally rooted in Asian culture and practices. Through a qualitative multiple-case study, this study identifies the different combinations of the three components in each search strategy — in terms of core competences. It notices that searches in each innovation are conducted during all phases of each problem-solving process rather than being confined to the initial stage of problem-solving activities. Through discussions of each component, this study reveals that despite the importance of ambidexterity in a search, the value system and absorptive capacity can take an important role in an effective search by properly recognising and evaluating the value of knowledge and turning it into a problem. Secondly, the search depth influences the innovation proceedings and links different pieces of knowledge. Lastly, a search network can facilitate problem discoveries, reduce the risk and uncertainty of each problem formulation and lead to competence building, even though it can be subject to partner availability and strategic compatibility issues.
This study examines the construction of each search strategy that combines search space, depth and network into innovation. It approaches a search as a problem-discovery process, which occurs during all phases of a problem-solving process. It selects three cases of LG Household and Healthcare’s product and process innovation, which typically occur in the cosmetics industry, where many cosmetic firms have conducted problem discoveries of oriental knowledge for product and process innovation. Knowledge of oriental medicine and fermentation are called, as oriental knowledge is traditionally rooted in Asian culture and practices. Through a qualitative multiple-case study, this study identifies the different combinations of the three components in each search strategy — in terms of core competences. It notices that searches in each innovation are conducted during all phases of each problem-solving process rather than being confined to the initial stage of problem-solving activities. Through discussions of each component, this study reveals that despite the importance of ambidexterity in a search, the value system and absorptive capacity can take an important role in an effective search by properly recognising and evaluating the value of knowledge and turning it into a problem. Secondly, the search depth influences the innovation proceedings and links different pieces of knowledge. Lastly, a search network can facilitate problem discoveries, reduce the risk and uncertainty of each problem formulation and lead to competence building, even though it can be subject to partner availability and strategic compatibility issues.
Models abound in the literature on innovation. They are continuously being invented and succeed one after the other. At the same time, these models are regularly criticized. This article looks at models of innovation and conducts a conceptual analysis of models. To the producers and users of models of innovation, a model has at least five different meanings: conceptualization, narrative, figure, tool, and perspective. This article suggests that the term ‘model’ has both a scientific and a rhetorical function. A ‘model’ is a symbol of scientificity and travels easily between scholars and between the latter and policy-makers. Calling a conceptualization or narrative or tool ‘model’ facilitates its propagation.
Purpose
– This paper aims to analyze the strategizing and organizing practices in the innovation process by using a processual approach. Three types of practices are examined: discursive, episodic and administrative. Their arrangement and their influence are also studied in the innovation process. The final objective is to understand the making process of the strategizing/organizing (S/O) duality, which remains today one of the major challenges of the strategy-as-practice.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper uses a longitudinal and qualitative methodology applied to a single case study. Primary data are based on 18 semi-directive interviews during a three-year period. Secondary data came from various meeting and reports, Web sites, newspapers and newsletters.
Findings
– The results show that strategizing and organizing practices are preconditioned by the phases of the innovation process. In the idea generation, commercialization and diffusion phases, strategizing takes precedence over the organizing, whereas in the R&D phase, it is the opposite. In the industrialization phase, strategizing and organizing are carried out simultaneously. Other results highlight the influence between discursive, episodic and administrative practices in the innovation process.
Practical implications
– This research offers guidance to practitioners of innovation who want to attain a deeper understanding of the innovation-making process and its close ties with strategizing and organizing.
Originality/value
– The authors empirically validate the making process of the S/O duality and examine the theoretical and empirical relevance of an innovizing concept, when the innovation-making process implicitly generates the production of a new inseparable S/O duality.
Technological advancements and market needs are some of the significant forces fuelling the introduction of products and services in a wide range of business sectors. Many product and service providers have utilized the so-called technology-push and market-pull, the simple linear views of innovation which prescribe the use of technological discoveries and the involvement of the market respectively to produce goods and services. Others have gone further to adopt models of innovation which recognize the interaction of the different functional units of a firm and the combination of the technology-push and market-pull views with feedback from the external environment. Malawi has witnessed the introduction of a complete array of technology-based products and services catering for different business sectors. This paper investigates how Malawian firms manage the process of innovation in the development or introduction of Information Technology (IT) products and services and proposes suitable models which firms can adopt in managing and strategizing around technological innovation in the Malawian environment. The results suggest that while firms must adhere to specific models of innovation, it is generally useful to take full advantage of the linear market-pull model and the conceptual framework of innovation.
The current economic environment has led to the need for companiesto act in the context of enterprise networks, given its influence on business competitiveness, particularly in SMEs, and their contribution to regional development. This has generated an interest among researchers to analyze these networks. This paper evaluates the impact of relationships between companies and institutions in business innovation in the department of Caldas (Colombia). The work is empirical and data is treated with econometric models (logit models). The results indicated that ties between firms to carry out R&D and technology transfer and knowledge have a positive influence on R&D and innovation within the company.
The traceability of contributions in the joint creation between customers and organizations (co-creation), is recognize as a fundamental task to support activities in obtaining products/services with high potential for innovation. The goal of traceability is to improve the quality of products and services. The information that provides the traceability can be used to support the analysis of the implications and integration of change requests in different phases of innovative models and to understand the evolution of artifacts that represent the knowledge. This work presents a model that facilitates following the contributions of stakeholders that participate in co-creation of a service for video transmission in a telecommunications organization in Medellin, Colombia. The proposed model allows to track the contributions generated and the results corroborate the establishment of relationships between artifacts at different stages of the innovation cycle.
p>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The high failure rate of innovation projects indicates that many companies are not getting the full benefit from their innovation projects [1], [2]. A research project was carried out during 2005 that explored and compared the existing formal models for supporting innovation, in order to address the identified problem. It proposed guidelines for improving and refining innovation projects. A case study that focused on the front-end of product innovation in the wine industry and the applicability of the formal W-model [3] to innovation activities was used to evaluate how formal innovation models can indeed effectively support industry innovation projects. The innovation life cycle was used to categorize a number of innovation frameworks for product, process, and enterprise innovation. Further research should focus on extending the case study to other industries, such as the automotive sector.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die groot aantal onsuksesvolle innovasie projekte dui daarop dat maatskappye nie die volle voordele uit hul innovasie projekte kry nie [1], [2]. ’n Navorsingsprojek is gedurende 2005 uitgevoer om bestaande formele innovasie modelle te evalueer, ondersoek, en vergelyk, met die doel om bogenoemde probleem aan te spreek en riglyne voor te stel wat innovasie sal bevorder en verfyn. ’n Gevallestudie, wat fokus op produkinnovasie in die wyn-industrie, is uitgevoer om die toepaslikheid en effektiewe ondersteuning van die formele W-model [3] op spesifieke innovasie aktiwiteite te evalueer. Die innovasie-lewensiklus is ook gebruik om ’n aantal innovasie-raamwerke te kategoriseer in afdelings vir produk-, onderneming- en proses-innovasie. Toekomstige navorsing behoort te fokus op ’n uitbreiding van die gevallestudie na ander industrië soos die motorindustrie.</p
This paper examines different methodologies used in quantitative empirical studies attempting to identify the distinctive characteristics of innovative firms. Despite the research effort, the statistical analysis results are inconsistent. The reasons for this inconsistency were explored and can be attributed to (i) methodological differences in the studies, such as the varying definitions and measurements of innovation and (ii) different characteristics of firms targeted such as size, sector and geographical region. A portfolio model synthesising the various research results is developed, which is not meant to be universally applicable but instead can be used as a platform for country or industry specific studies. To illustrate the application of the proposed contingency approach, the author presents a comparative review of results from two recent studies using portfolio models in Iran and Greece.
This paper provides a critical review of firm-level innovation models. The paper summaries different categories of innovation model and identifies their achievements. One of the chief contributions models is that many countries go substantially into the management of innovation and the decision-making processes within the firm. However, in general, there is a lack of empirical evidence to verify existing models, weak theoretical underpinnings, This article looks at various models of innovation processes as well as at diffusion of innovation models. It summarizes current theories on both managing innovation processes and creating innovative organizations.
We describe here a generic approach to innovation dynamics based on an integrated framework for inventions and innovations applied via a platform equation and model across the industrial technology life cycle. We test the model for metals and other materials, and demonstrate that this model correctly describes the production activity for several materials and energy conversion technologies.Innovation activity patterns are shown for several oxides, metals, oil and wind energy and its derivatives. The metals Cu, Al, W, Mo and Pb are particularly studied for the amount produced over time. The total activity for the metals encompasses both the invention and innovation stage for a particular metal. Four major stages and two sub stages are identified for the discovery (invention) and subsequent growth regimes (i.e. the innovation stage). The pattern equation appears to clearly capture all these stages for the metals studied — work is ongoing for similar analyses of energy and other materials. Although the metals studied existed over differing periods (e.g. copper greater than 200 years whereas aluminum, just over 100 years), one single pattern equation appears to capture all the major trends. The use of the model is also shown for productivity analysis, especially for the condition of radical innovation (very rapid growth). For sustained radical innovation, namely, when the output of the produced material per unit time, keeps on increasing with time, there are various factors which may influence growth. For the conditions where thermal activation and plant size are the dominant variables, their impact on the growth may be examined in the context of the pattern equation. A preliminary analysis of oxide production activity also appears to follow this same innovation model.The results suggest a fertile field of future research extending the initial platform equation model to include R&D, Patents, and Performance, as well as Sales, as innovation activity. Further, the model shows promise in combination with the ARI methodology model for analysis and assessment of existing and future industrial technology life cycles involving material, process, product, software and service innovations.
This article highlights the need to assess the impact of the innovation over its environment in general sense, as a factor determining its future success. This impact has to be evaluated, not only taking into account the vendor-customer relationship, but studying the entire network of actors of the innovation's environment. First, a comprehensive analysis of the meaning of the term impact is made, its implications and the ways of measured it are exposed as well. The relevance of the Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) to represent and formalize the network of actors and its dynamic (dependency and interaction) is evaluated. Then, a new impact assessment methodology based in multi-agent systems is proposed and illustrated through an example.
With the listing enterprises of manufacturing industries as the samples and by means of structure equation model, this paper deal with the empirical relationship among the dynamic capability, the relationship quality and cooperation performance. The research results indicate that dynamic capability has significant positive influence on relationship quality; Dynamic capability has significant positive influence on cooperation performance; relationship quality has significant influence on enterprise cooperation performance; At last, dynamic capability not only directly has an influence on enterprises cooperation performance, but also influences enterprises cooperation performance indirectly through relationship quality. Conclusions of this article can be used to provide Chinese manufacturing enterprises for carrying out strategy management with theoretical guides.
The dynamics of knowledge flow between R&D activities and a diverse set of actual or potential users is clearly critical to
the realization of desired outcomes. However, current R&D evaluation frameworks focus almost exclusively on measurable discrete
outputs and outcomes. We show that more general categories of the realization of values from the creation and utilization
of knowledge are needed to make R&D evaluation more relevant to R&D program management. We propose a set of procedures that
comprise a knowledge value mapping approach to R&D evaluation. This is achieved by considering the explicit and implicit normative
dimension of the evaluation situation as an empirical domain that requires its own analytical elucidation to direct and give
meaning to other technical aspects of the evaluation agenda. The benefits for research portfolio management are explored based
on the experience of deployment of a specific technology in the context of rehabilitation research in the USA, namely, accessible
currency.
A new approach in science policy making named the innovation system (IS) approach has been developed during the past three decades. Its primary goal is to better understand the processes through which scientific knowledge is produced and transferred to businesses to improve their competitiveness and develop national and/or regional economies. This approach has been adopted as an analytical framework and guideline for science policy making by numerous public sector organizations around the world. Using a case study of the Canadian and Quebec public sectors, our research seeks to understand why the IS approach has gained the adherence of government employees and how it has been disseminated from international organizations down to regional civil servants. Findings show that adherence to the IS approach stems from the prestige of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and its associated epistemic community, and from the cultural authority science exerts on government employees; these two factors bestow cultural authority onto the IS approach. The perceived scientific validity of the IS approach also leads government employees to consider its underlying economistic worldview as an unquestionable reality.
Technical change is described using a systems model that focuses on four important characteristics: multi‐directional linkages, knowledge and learning, unique development paths and cumulative self‐reinforcing development. The model is then applied to the goal of environmentally sustainable development in order to determine the implications for policy at the level of the European Union (EU). The European Commission should use direct regulation, economic instruments, procurement and social policies to guide the direction of technical change. The systems model also suggests policy options for dealing with potential or existing lock‐in to undesirable technologies. Overall, the responsibilities of the European Commission should include the co‐ordination of long‐term regulatory signals and support for the development and diffusion of favourable technologies, constructive technology assessment and international co‐operation. Aspects of the proposed Fourth Framework Programme of relevance to environmentally sustainable development are discussed.
Research collaborations are detleloped to share intellectual and physical resources and jirfher technological competitiveness. The Cooperatiue Research Centres programme has enabled the Australian government to adopt an interventionist role in national research directions and to stimulate innouation biy targeting collaborative arrangements. The programme has had an immediate impact on research pstems zwithin industy, universities and public research institutions. Management of research linkages is complex and based on resoliing competing strategies. This paper outlines critical management issues concerning collaborative research and suggests that the ways in which authorip structures and organizational strategies are formulated will determine the success of collaborative research in Australia.
Innovation networks have become a persistent organisational phenomenon in industrial innovation processes. However, in economics they were considered in the first place only as a temporary hybrid phenomenon between markets and a hierarchical organisation within a single firm. The main focus of traditional neo-classical analysis simply was on cost reduction of R&D within a network. Only with the coming up of evolutionary economics with its prevailing knowledge orientation, learning and synergistic partnering also move to the centre of interest. Without a consideration of the roles strong uncertainty, heterogeneity as well as the historical character of time play in innovation, networks cannot be explained as a self-organisational persistent phenomenon. The present paper brings together different strands of the new theory of innovation and develops an evolutionary theory of innovation networks.
Although it is true that the issues of quality and innovation have been dealt with extensively from different perspectives, studies on the relationship between the two concepts are few. This study tackles this relationship by analyzing the links between the broader concepts of total quality management (TQM) and business innovation capability (BIC). Specifically, it is argued that TQM can favor the development of BIC. An empirical study of 102 firms in the sectors of machinery and instruments for measurement, analysis and control revealed that, indeed, both concepts are compatible and make it possible to identify which dimensions of TQM explain the generation of BIC.
The measurement of science and technology (S&T) is now fifty years old. It owes a large part of its existence to the work of the National Science Foundation and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the 1950s and 1960s. Given the centrality of S&T statistics in science studies, it is surprising that no history of the measurement exists in the literature. This article outlines such a history. The history is cast in the light of social statistics. Like social statistics, S&T indicators are produced mainly by governments but differ in a number of aspects. First, they have not been developed to control individuals. Second, they have taken shape from the start at the international level. Third, they reflect a consensus among states and their organizations. This article shows that this specificity is due to the sociopolitics that drives S&T measurement.
Purpose
– The UK Government's housing agenda, coupled with the current market conditions, has provided the housebuilding industry with a challenge to build more new homes while improving business efficiency to survive. Although innovation has been claimed as the key to meeting the challenge, the level of its usage has been reported low. This paper aims to reveal an insight into the success, inertia and failure of innovations and improve innovation management for housebuilding firms.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper reports on a two‐year case study of a large UK housebuilding company. It investigates the lifecycle of two product innovations, i.e. photovoltaic and air source heat pumps, and two process innovations, i.e. development efficiency plan and glossary of terms.
Findings
– Five key stages of managing innovation are identified which represent the thematic consistency among the innovation processes, i.e. the creation of ideas, development of innovation, utilisation, review and improvement or abandonment. The organisational construct of the company for managing innovation is complicated and appeared difficult to manipulate, which constitutes a cultural and administrative obstacle. Whilst the adoption of the innovations from the market seems more straightforward than those created and developed in the company, the success or failure of innovation is driven by the combination of external and internal contextual issues. Strategies are developed which should improve the effectiveness of managing innovation in housebuilding and contribute to relevant future debate.
Originality/value
– The paper provides insight into managing innovation in UK housebuilding.
Successjulb innovativejms tend to be those that have evolved organizational mechanisms that enable areas of specialist knowledge and expertise, ‘fragmented’ throughout the firm amongst specialists, to be easily integrated and applied to a particular function. This paper looks at how such mechanisms, working within a broader corporate anvironment that is conducive to creative change, underlie much of the success of a particular Fapanese firm in its management of the product development process. The case study examines how a new multi-media product, the Data Discman, was developed by a project team in Sony. It shows how common hurdles in the drive for a working, cost-effective and marketable product, in this case a novel combination of specialized technologies, are overcome quickly and effectively for project success.
Industrial innovation is the focus of a wide range ofresearch efforts. This research is highly diverse; focusing, for example, on the nature and process of innovation, systems and particular technologies, sectors and firms . Each of these different approaches is revealing and greater efforts are needed to combine the insights fram different disciplines and methodologies to enhance cumulativeness in our knowledge of this important issue.
Innovative management models consider human resources to be a key dimension in the innovation process and its performance. In particular, the knowledge of the people making up the staff and their creativity is fundamental. However, scant study has been made of what specific type of policies and practices in human resource management fosters better knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in the staff that will lead to the best performance in innovation. This paper studies the relationship between the policies and practices of human resource management from the viewpoint of total quality management and performance in innovation. Specifically, it is argued that there is a direct relationship, as well as a possible moderating effect, of strategic orientation towards innovation. An empirical study made of 106 Spanish industrial firms found no evidence of this moderating effect, although it did find evidence of a direct relationship and, in particular, of the positive effects of teamwork on technological innovation.
The proliferation of research collaborations amongst industry, university and public sector research organisations encourages and increases national innovative capacity. Innovation activities in research collaborations are governed by four major determinants that are critical for the transformation of new ideas generated within research organisations into commercial products, processes or user services. These determinants include the status of knowledge, organisational management factors, linkage mechanisms and market and user opportunities. Interaction between these determinants is important for an analysis of innovation clusters formed across different national research programs. This paper discusses the relationships between major determinants of innovation using a ‘symbiotic’ model which is similar to Michael Porter's ‘diamond’ model for competitive advantages of national industries. The model is applied to emerging ‘innovation clusters’ supported by the Cooperative Research Centres Program in Australia and is field tested at centre level for its explanatory viability. The discussion provides insights into improved management methods for innovation in collaborative research arrangements.
One prominent feature of biotechnology in the UK is the close relationship between the public‐sector science base and industry. Using information from interviews, the system for technology transfer is examined and four main institutional actors are identified: sponsors (both public and private, which fund research), hosts (which provide an environment in which research takes place), users (which commercialize research) and intermediaries (which act as agents in the technology transfer process). Models of the process of technology transfer are developed which incorporate knowledge flows between these institutions and the accompanying contractual, and financial/ economic relations. The direction, scale and formality of these interactions is examined and it is suggested that institutional approaches can capture important feedbacks and relationships which are overlooked in traditional stage and activity models of innovation.
In particular, intermediaries are highlighted, and it is suggested that they play an important role in contractual and financial/economic linkages in three ways: (i) by acting as agents between institutions in the presence of an imperfect knowledge market, (ii) by performing a liaison function for firms sourcing external know‐how, and (iii) by providing access to complementary assets for development of technologies internally.
In the conclusion, we argue that institutional models can (a) help to define optimal linkage structures for specific technological areas at national and supranational levels (e.g. between members of the European Union) and (b) highlight the presence of inter‐agency tensions and help identify the appropriate management options for resolving these.
To date, little attention has been paid to the strategies of local firms in bringing about industrialization in Bast Asia. This article focuses on the methods by which domestic firms utilized foreign connections to overcome technology and market barriers in electronics. A simple market-technology model is developed as a first approximation of how domestic technology assimilation relates to export marketing in the four ‘Dragons' of East Asia (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore). It proposes that export demand shaped the pace and pattern of technological progress in electronics in each of the four Dragons. Historical evidence shows that each country used a distinctive mix of direct and indirect export mechanisms to acquire technology and to enter international markets. Foreign buyers, transnational corporations (TNCs), original equipment manufacturer (OEM) arrangements, joint ventures and licensing deals were exploited by ‘latecomer’ firms to their market and technology advantage. Asian firms progressed from simple assembly tasks to more sophisticated product design and development capabilities, travelling ‘backwards' along the product life cycle of traditional innovation models. Today, leading Asian firms invest heavily in R&D and engage in partnerships with TNCs to acquire and develop advanced new electronics technologies. The technological progress of latecomers remains closely coupled to export demand through OEM and other institutional arrangements.
One of the first (conceptual) frameworks developed for understanding the relation of science and technology to the economy has been the linear model of innovation. The model postulated that innovation starts with basic research, is followed by applied research and development, and ends with production and diffusion. The precise source of the model remains nebulous, having never been documented. Several authors who have used, improved, or criticized the model in the past fifty years rarely acknowledged or cited any original source. The model usually was taken for granted. According to others, however, it comes directly from V. Bush’s Science: The Endless Frontier ([1945] 1995). This article traces the history of the linear model, suggesting that it developed in three steps corresponding to three scientific communities looking at science analytically. The article argues that statistics is a main reason the model is still alive despite criticisms, alternatives, and having been proclaimed dead.
This paper will present the results of a British study which investigated how, to what extent and why companies in three emerging
technologies use knowledge from public sector research during their innovation activities. The study will be set in the context
of the historical background to public-private knowledge flows in industry and details of current British policy to harness
public sector research to wealth creation. The methodology for the study will be fully described before presenting some of
the main results. A review of the history of publicly-funded agricultural research in Britain will then provide an opportunity
to consider how far lessons about university/industry interactions can be extrapolated to agricultural research. This material
will provide a framework for discussing the opportunities and barriers to public/private knowledge flows in agriculture in
the 21st century.
J. Schumpeter is a key figure, even a seminal one, on technological innovation. Most economists who study technological innovation
refer to Schumpeter and his pioneering role in introducing innovation into economic studies. However, despite having brought
forth the concept of innovation in economic theory, Schumpeter provided few if any analyses of the process of innovation itself.
This paper suggests that the origin of systematic studies on technological innovation owes its existence to the economist
W. Rupert Maclaurin from MIT. In the 1940s and 1950s, Maclaurin developed Schumpeter’s ideas, analyzing technological innovation
as a process composed of several stages or steps, and proposed a theory of technological innovation, later called the linear
model of innovation. The paper also argues that Maclaurin constructed one of the first taxonomies for measuring technological
innovation.
In-depth historical assessment of innovation over the past several hundred years shows that incremental innovation and cost reduction emphasized in the late 20th century will prove inadequate and even counterproductive in the 21st century for achieving sustained, global competitive advantage requiring radical innovation. The accelerated radical innovation (ARI) methodology, developed systematically over the past 5 years, has further addressed these requirements by utilizing systematic historical and real time case studies to articulate theory, tacit knowledge, techniques and tools for improving the radical innovation process. Ongoing ARI research since the PICMET'07 Conference has further confirmed the validity of the ARI methodology, and developed improved techniques for measuring and guiding innovation progress, based on focused assessment of 10 innovation attributes at each of the 10 ARI steps. A systematic evaluation of successful radical innovation approaches, and quantitative assessment of the dynamics of four major radical innovations over the past 100 years by retrospective application of the ARI theory have been applied to better understand how to overcome the four types of challenges and hurdles inherent in achieving commercialization of breakthrough innovations. This paper summarizes research on the ARI methodology at The University of Toledo since 2004, involving collaborators at Vanderbilt University, University of Detroit Mercy, Bowling Green State University, University of Cincinnati and University of Leeds, UK, from mid 2006 to the end of 2008. Approaches and techniques for real-time assessment and management of a potential breakthrough innovation are now validated to address any innovation stage from breakthrough concept to commercialization of a standard design.
In a previous publication (Inventions and Innovation: A Case Study in Metalsrdquo Key Engineering Materials, Vol. 380, 2008) we were able to distinguish four stages of a long life cycle for specific commodities as well as offer a method for correlating innovation with patent activity. In this study, we extend the number of systems studied. The present study builds on the model proposed earlier for quantifying specific technical innovations (within a group) with the yearly patent counts for that group. Some insights into pattern features that may indicate when materials transition from Stage III (innovation and rapid growth) to stage IV (survival) are offered. If the pattern model is as far reaching as it appears, the results then have important implications on adopting the correct innovation strategies during this period of fundamental social change.
Articulating a compelling economic rationale to justify investments in research—by definition furthest removed from direct, immediate economic benefit—is perhaps one of chief challenges of R&D managers, policy makers and science analysts in the years ahead. Although several innovation studies and surveys have provided some convincing empirical evidence of impacts and benefits of research to technical progress, there is still an urgent need for comprehensive models, reliable data and analytical tools to describe and monitor links between R&D and industrial innovation in more detail.As for the role of scientific and engineering research in the innovation process, this paper reports on the findings of a novel methodology to increase our understanding of the contribution of research efforts to successful technical inventions. The approach is based on a nation-wide mail survey amongst inventors working in the corporate sector and the public research sector in The Netherlands. The inventors’ inside information regarding their patented inventions—and related technological innovations on the market—provided a range of quantitative data on the importance of the underpinning research activities. Statistical models attempting to explain the degree of “science dependence” of the inventions identify a range of relevant variables, covering the inventor’s own capabilities and previous R&D achievements, external information sources, as well as the inventor’s R&D environment in general. Some 20% of the private sector innovations turned out to be (partially) based on public sector research. Furthermore, citations in patents referring to basic research literature were found to be invalid indictors of a technology’s science dependence.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of innovation for firm competitiveness from a systemic point of view, and to review recent literature about the interactive innovation model.
Design/methodology/approach
– The research question posed in this paper is: what critical innovation factors hinder/promote innovation activity in the individual company? The paper is intentionally closed into a particular field of literature, i.e. the interactive innovation model.
Findings
– It was found that the research policy implications of the interactive model will be that the emphasis on research must turn more towards relations between elements generating innovation systems at various system levels. Many methods must be applied in the same research project or research model.
Originality/value
– The paper illustrates what critical innovation factors hinder/promote innovation activity in the individual company.
Technological advancements and market needs are some of the significant forces fuelling the introduction of products and services in a wide range of business sectors. Many product and service providers have utilized the so-called technology-push and market-pull, the simple linear views of innovation which prescribe the use of technological discoveries and the involvement of the market respectively to produce goods and services. Others have gone further to adopt models of innovation which recognize the interaction of the different functional units of a firm and the combination of the technology-push and market-pull views with feedback from the external environment. Malawi has witnessed the introduction of a complete array of technology-based products and services catering for different business sectors. This paper investigates how Malawian firms manage the process of innovation in the development or introduction of Information Technology (IT) products and services and proposes suitable models which firms can adopt in managing and strategizing around technological innovation in the Malawian environment. The results suggest that while firms must adhere to specific models of innovation, it is generally useful to take full advantage of the linear market-pull model and the conceptual framework of innovation.
Good design and successful innovation have been shown repeatedly to be intimately linked to early and close consultations between design and representative customers. What has not been highlighted, and should be, is that the tougher and more demanding the customers are in their equirements, the better and more robust the designs will be, along with their probability of reinnovation and propensity for successful longterm commercial exploitation. To demonstrate this point the history of a number of innovations based on good (commercially successful) designs is examined in two rather diffent industrial sectors — aerospace and agricultural machinery.
This paper presents some research conclusions as a number of “propositions” about technological innovation which are intended mainly for managers of business and government institutions. The author claims that western nations are foregoing great opportunities by taking a short term view. In particular, he believes that screening is done at too early stage, administrators and managers fail to realise the long time span of the innovative process, and there is a widespread assumption that government agencies must only support “sure-winners”.
This article reports results from empirical tests of relationships between the pattern of innovation within a firm and certain of the firm's characteristics: the stage of development of its production process and its chosen basis of competition. The hypothesized relationships posed for the present investigation are a synthesis of prior research by the present authors on two distinct but complementary conceptual models of innovation, concerning respectively: the relationship between competitive strategy and innovation, and the relationship between production process characteristics and innovation. The empirical investigation is carried out with data available from the Myers and Marquis study of successful technological innovation in five different industry segments. The essential aspects of the hypothesized relationships are that the characteristics of the innovative process will systematically correspond with the stage of development exhibited by the firm's production process technology and with its strategy for competition and growth. As a more specific example these relationships predict that there will be coherent patterns in the stimuli for innovation (market, production or new technology); in the types of innovation (product or process, original or adopted, etc.) and in barriers to innovation. The presently reported statistical evidence is decidedly favorable to the hypothesized relationships, even though the adaptations needed to implement tests with existing data introduce dependencies that limit conclusions which would otherwise be warranted. The broad implication is that strong and important relationships exist among the capability of a firm to innovate, its competitive strategy and the posture of its production resources.