Sustainable innovation and its management have become fundamental forces for change in business and society. Paradoxically, little attention has been given to how small and medium-sized enterprises ...(SMEs) manage sustainable innovation in the current knowledge-intensive context. By studying 80 SMEs from the high-tech manufacturing sector in Italy, this research has found that, when combined with stakeholder engagement, sustainable innovation management becomes a pivotal phenomenon for new and established SMEs. Stakeholders proved instrumental in generating the sense of environmental responsibility in SMEs. As a pioneer combination of stakeholder theory and innovation management theory, our research found that stakeholder-related capabilities, both tangible and intangible, influence the firm's orientation towards sustainable innovation, its environmental responsibility and related capabilities. Our research assists the sustainability, adaptation, innovation and growth orientation of SMEs in a knowledge-intensive environment by recommending that, in their relationship with stakeholders, SMEs become more open to co-create, share and reuse environmental knowledge.
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the level of subsidiaries’ internal and external relational embeddedness and the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer. More ...specifically, the aim is to explore dual embeddedness of subsidiaries involved in the knowledge transfer process within multinational corporations’ (MNCs) network.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors empirically analyse 165 European subsidiaries to demonstrate the crucial role of dual relational embeddedness in the transfer of knowledge within MNCs. Data were collected via a close-ended questionnaire and processed through an ordinary least squares regression model.
Findings
Results show that internal embeddedness directly and positively influences the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer, whereas external embeddedness does not. Notwithstanding, a higher level of both types of embeddedness – known as dual embeddedness – generates multiplicative and positive effects on the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer.
Practical implications
Best practices and relevant knowledge follow a reverse transfer of knowledge from the subsidiaries to the internal MNC network that is facilitated by the relational embeddedness of subsidiaries. This has resulted in developing a dual embeddedness, which introduces new routines and scripts, as well as more relational links.
Originality/value
The research emphasises the relevance of the knowledge transfer process in multiple directions, evoking the central role of dual-embedded subsidiaries.
Knowledge hiding is widely considered a counter-productive workplace behavior that can hinder the employees' creativity and have a negative impact on performance. Although companies are prone to ...encourage knowledge sharing practices, employees are inclined to hide their knowledge – tacit and explicit. Often this happens in research and development (R&D) process where team members may distrust each other or intentionally are not hostile in sharing knowledge. The phenomenon of knowledge hiding has increased the interest in researchers who have explored it in different views, there has been little research into the antecedents of knowledge hiding and the social factors that trigger the relate behavior. In this vein, the current study seeks to analyze antecedents and social factors through the lens of the theory of planned behavior as the guiding theory in an in-depth qualitative research. Specifically, knowledge hiders' attitudes, subjective norms and their perceived behavioral control over the knowledge hiding along with the cultural dimensions of 15 international R&D teams are investigated. Although exploratory, the study reveals the fact that cultivating an environment of collaboration and knowledge sharing is beneficial as it removes the organizational foundation of knowledge hiding, which is more likely to result in increased innovation within the whole organization. A comprehensive theoretical framework of knowledge hiding is proposed, and its implications on theory and practice are discussed with the aim of nudging further explorations on the topic.
By shifting towards Romer’s (Am Econ Rev 94:1002–1037, 1986) economy and so the spread of knowledge economy, universities started to adopt a collaborative approach with their entrepreneurial ...ecosystem. They turn out to be risk taker, autonomous, proactive, competitive, and innovative. In a nutshell, they are entrepreneurial oriented with the aim to generate new innovative ventures, known as research-based spin offs. Doubly, this has induced an improvement of technology transfer and the degree of entrepreneurship in the current knowledge economy. However there still is a paucity of studies on the spill over effect of entrepreneurial orientated universities and research-based spin off on technology transfer need to be more explored. Therefore, the article investigates the link between entrepreneurial orientation and such spill overs by offering an outlook of two universities and two research-based spin offs in the United Kingdom. The scope is to provide a deep view of technological innovativeness in a research context, entrepreneurial oriented. Our research suggests that entrepreneurial attitude has become an imperative to succeed in the context where British institutions currently operate. Entrepreneurship brings the necessary technological innovation to the university and its students, which results in better positioning of the university at national and international levels, with the subsequent impact on their ability to attract not only new students and academics but also funding to conduct their research.
Destructive changes and breakthrough innovations are embraced in the development of Internet of Things (IoTs). These network-connected smart devices or machine-learning algorithms transfer ...information on consumers to the Internet by small sensors and computing processors. Companies thus track consumers' behaviour and offer personalised products and services. However, consumers are still sceptical in using these devices due to privacy risks and a dearth of awareness about the technologies' perceived value. Therefore, to overcome these barriers, the research seeks to measure the relationships among the elements that affect customers' willingness and decisions to use IoTs-based products. On the basis of motivation theories, two categories of motivational factors are individuated: extrinsic factors such as entertainment and social interaction and intrinsic factors such as information acquisition, privacy risk, and technology readiness level. They are analysed using a sample of 782 early-adopter customers in Italy. The aim is to offer an explorative, quantitative study on the IoTs to enhance the existing knowledge and support business in the process of engaging more users and creating new personalised products. In line with this, the study's implications, limits, and recommendations for further research are presented.
•The motivation theory is adopted.•Two categories of motivational factors are individuated.•A customer based approach is adopted.•The paper aims to support companies in improving their market alignment.
To date, research-based spin-offs (RBSOs) have been studied from an institutional perspective, from an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) or from a resource-based view. Although scholars have expressed ...an interest in studying RBSOs, nobody has incorporated the three different perspectives into a single integrated model. Therefore, the present article aims to develop a holistic theoretical framework, studying the human, financial, technological and social resources of an RBSO and highlighting whether the EO influences an RBSO during its generation and development phases. A case study from the information and communication technology sector was selected, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire complemented with in-depth and on-site interviews. The holistic framework adopted allowed to highlight the peculiarities of the RBSO: the marked vocation for scientific research, the EO of the founding team and the important role of the parent organization, mostly in supplying intangible assets. The emerged evidence shows how it is possible to generate and develop a successful RBSO, providing useful insights from both academic and managerial viewpoints.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new perspective on ambidextrous innovation orientation looking at how the current digital transformation is accepted in the fashion industry in ...Italy. Precisely, the objective of the paper is to test whether the use of social media platforms positively influences ambidextrous innovation orientation in fashion companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical quantitative research was carried out on a sample of 853 small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the fashion industry in Italy. Using a logistic regression methodology, four hypotheses were tested to verify the correlation of four dimensions of social media platforms with an ambidextrous innovation orientation among fashion firms.
Findings
The four hypotheses were validated: the structural dimension, the relational behaviour dimension, the cognitive dimension and knowledge transfer practices of social media platforms were proven to positively influence ambidextrous innovation orientation in fashion firms.
Research limitations/implications
Though this is one of the few research studies that offers a quantitative analysis in this field, it could be further developed, for instance by extending the sample of firms to SMEs operating in other countries or by comparing multinationals with SMEs.
Originality/value
This paper provides an original contribution to studies on the use of social media to promote ambidexterity in firms, which has only been studied to a limited extent in the extant literature. From this perspective, the originality of the study is further strengthened by the unique context of analysis, namely, the fashion industry in Italy.
The increasing amount of investment through crowdfunding platforms despite the recent global economic downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has nurtured the interest in how this form of ...investment can generate non-monetary value for a company. Through the lens of the entrepreneurial value creation (EVC) theory, the present case study demonstrates the development of two key stages of a new venture: (1) formulation and (2) monetization. The study employs a case study approach based on a high-tech company in Italy, namely Aimage. The case demonstrates how Aimage improves entrepreneurial competences by the acquisition of dynamic capabilities through means of a crowdfunding campaign. It shows how to gain not just monetary but also non-monetary benefits, mainly in the form of entrepreneurial knowledge. Moreover, the case of Aimage confirms that crowdfunding brings added value to an entrepreneurial venture in its monetization stage—even when capital is not needed for survival but for overcoming time of crisis—by enhancing its dynamic capabilities and helping to transform entrepreneurial competence into entrepreneurial reward.
Purpose
Generally, there is a common sense to consider knowledge sharing and creation as two separate processes but a new matter emerges when those processes are intertwining. In this vein, this ...research aims to discuss on the lens of the open innovation (OI) model how such intertwining generates digital platform-based ecosystem.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical approach is used to largely discuss the intertwining of knowledge sharing and creation in the current digital era. It debates such scenario considering past and present studies and suggests future research streamlines.
Findings
It offers a new theoretical model that can be implemented in a micro, meso and macro level where the concept of “ba” (or ba-sho) assumes the form of a digital platform where knowledge sharing is in motion and dynamically interacts with the knowledge creation.
Originality/value
By discussing the intertwining of knowledge creation and sharing in OI context along with digital trends (e.g. platform innovation ecosystems and platform innovation management), the study offers a new conceptual framework that relies on such intertwining accompanied by the concept of “ba – sho.” In this vein, research limits and new research are suggested to demonstrate and support this conceptual study.
Innovation, nowadays, is increasingly motivated by bottom-line considerations. Customers’ desires, needs, and preferences drive company innovativeness, even in a slow growth industry such as the food ...sector. In the analysis of the introduction of new (or improved) private label products in this sector, desirability and scarcity have been identified as the main elements of leverage in customer behaviour. However, product is considered desirable and scarce only if other individuals are buying it. Customer behaviour is not just affected by a direct observation of other customers, it is also influenced by traces that other customers “leave behind” such as empty shelf space (van Herpen et al. in
Journal of Consumer Psychology
,
19
(3), 302–312,
2009
, 303). This phenomenon, known as shelf-based scarcity, has attracted previous research that, in the main, refers to customer behaviour but not to the performance and innovativeness of firms. In fact, shelf-based scarcity can stimulate four categories of innovation: new uses (positioning), new ingredient (formulation), new packaging (packaging), and new production processes (technology). Therefore, through the lens of a customer-focused innovation approach (CFI), this research seeks to bridge this gap and offers a qualitative analysis of one of the largest food retail chains in Italy. The scope is to present the positive aspects of shelf-based scarcity in the innovation process and encourage food retailers to leverage outcomes which stem from this phenomenon in order to enhance their innovativeness.
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