European Journal of Innovation Management

Leithold, Nick ; Haase, Heiko ; Lautenschläger, Arndt

2015 European Journal of Innovation Management

doi: 10.1108/EJIM-07-2014-0070

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the structure of the new product development (NPD) processes of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and researches the transferability of the Stage-Gate® system for SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a qualitative multiple case study design. Data were gathered from 49 semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with German firms. The authors used blank cards and a bar graph to measure process structures. The NPD processes were assessed using both objective and subjective success criteria. Pattern matching was used as a systematic analysis technology for the identification of certain structures in the data. In data analysis the authors applied triangulation, content analysis, and descriptive categorisations. The authors looked for similarities and differences between the groups and the frequencies of certain characteristics, and also compared mean values. Findings – The authors found that the majority of the enterprises have adopted Stage-Gate® systems. The authors also found that users of Stage-Gate® XPress processes (a condensed version of the Stage-Gate® system) were, on average, more successful in their innovation activities than the users of other versions of the Stage-Gate® system and entirely different NPD processes. The typical steps in these development processes are idea creation, business case, and product development and production. The study also describes the structure of the XPress processes considering back couplings, overlapping activities, milestones, and customer integration. Originality/value – This description offers potential for the optimisation of the efficiency and effectiveness of NPD processes. Overall, the paper delivers new insights regarding the further exploration of the process structures in SMEs.

Greco, Marco ; Grimaldi, Michele ; Cricelli, Livio

2015 European Journal of Innovation Management

doi: 10.1108/EJIM-07-2013-0074

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the recurrences in the empirical evidences that link open innovation (OI) actions and innovation performance in European countries. It provides managers with useful strategic suggestions, emphasizes the limitations of the state of the art, and recommends future directions of research. Design/methodology/approach – The authors systematically reviewed empirical articles linking OI actions and innovation performance in European countries, published on peer reviewed journals from January 2003 until May 2013. The authors organized the evidences according to a novel taxonomy grounded in the literature. Findings – The paper shows an increasing interest in the research of empirical evidence regarding OI and innovation performance. Nonetheless, evidence of the role played by outbound OI activities are extremely rare. The authors found that process innovations are more likely to benefit from coupled OI activities rather than inbound activities. Moreover, the effect of coupled depth actions on both product and process innovation performance was always positive in the reviewed articles. The authors also discuss how scholars measure innovation performance, pointing out the criticalities. Research limitations/implications – The paper allows analysing the empirical evidences found in the literature, emphasizing the limitations of the state of the art and recommending future directions of research. Practical implications – The systematization of the empirical evidences found in the European literature provides managers with useful strategic suggestions to improve their organizations’ innovation performances. Originality/value – The paper contains a complete and extensive analysis of empirical OI literature with respect to European countries. The articles and their findings are organized according to a novel taxonomy useful to identify evidences and recurrences in a synoptic manner.

Leitner, Karl-Heinz

2015 European Journal of Innovation Management

doi: 10.1108/EJIM-01-2014-0002

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the intermingling of new product development and strategy making which are interpreted as co-evolutionary processes where self-organisation and emergence are significant phenomena. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an empirical study of 50 major Austrian innovations in various manufacturing industries developed by small and large firms in the 1980s and 1990s. The theoretical arguments for studying the innovation and strategy process are based on the findings of the complexity science. Findings – The paper shows that emerging opportunities, self-organisation and strategic intentions are equally important for the development of new major product innovations as deliberate search processes and rational decision making. The author identifies three strategy paths concerning the innovation and strategy process which are described as “strategically managed innovations”, “strategically enabled self-organized innovations” and “purely self-organised innovations”. Originality/value – While empirical studies investigating the emergent nature of strategy and innovation have so far mostly been analysed for very specific industries and firm types, this paper aims to deliver a broader empirical base for the question as to how strategy enables and guides the emergence of product innovations and how the development of new products contributes to the formation of innovation strategies.

Omri, Waleed

2015 European Journal of Innovation Management

doi: 10.1108/EJIM-02-2013-0015

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between innovative behavior and firm performance to determine empirically whether managers’ innovative behavior impacts directly or indirectly on firm performance through innovative output. A proposed conceptual model is tested with the moderating effects of environmental dynamism. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study tests the conceptual model of a multi-industry sample of Tunisian small and medium-sized enterprises. For this analysis the author applies the partial least squares (PLS) technique using the software package SmartPLS, version 2.0. Findings – Empirical findings reveal that innovative behavior acts on innovation output thus having a positive and significant effect on business performance. Direct effect on business performance is found to be positive but weakly significant. These positive relationships tend to decrease when market conditions are highly dynamic. Practical implications – Managers should be aware of the strategic potential of their innovative skills which can reinforce a firm’s innovativeness in order to improve business performance. Originality/value – This paper proposes a model showing how a manager’s innovative behavior affects innovation output thus enhancing firm performance. The proposed conceptual model gives a more specific vision with the introduction of environmental dynamism as a moderating factor.

Christiansen, John K ; Varnes, Claus J

2015 European Journal of Innovation Management

doi: 10.1108/EJIM-08-2013-0086

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers that induce companies to change their rules for managing product development. Most companies use a form of rule-based management approach, but surprisingly little is known about what makes companies change these rules. Furthermore, this management technology also has developed over time into different versions, but what drives firms from one version to another has only been suggested, not empirically studied. Design/methodology/approach – The dynamics of the rules of five companies are analyzed over a period of more than ten years based on three rounds of interviews with 40 managers. Findings – Previous research has assumed that the dynamics of product development rules are based on internal learning processes, and that increasingly competent management will stimulate the implementation of newer and more complex rule regimes. However, the analysis here indicates that there are different drivers, both internal and external, that cause companies to adopt new rules or modify their existing ones, such as changes in organizational structures, organizational conflicts and changes in ownership or strategy. In addition, contrary to the predictions in previous research, companies sometimes move back and forth between different generations of rules. Companies that have moved to a more flexible third generation of rules might revert to their second generation rules, or supplement their flexibility with an increased level of management control and information systems. A model is proposed to explain the relationship between the drivers of rule change and the actual dynamics of rules, incorporating two sets of moderators: organizational moderators and rule-related moderators. Research limitations/implications – The findings indicate that many factors influence the modification of rules, and that there is no simple linear progression from one generation to another. Organizational learning is one among several other factors that influences the dynamics of rules for managing product development. Further research is needed to explore the dynamic relationship between different factors, the proposed moderators and changes to rules. Lack of historical record keeping in companies puts special requirements on research concerning rules. Practical implications – Companies need to consider how and why their present versions of rules have emerged, whether or not the existing rules can actually solve the challenges they face today, whether or not the rules support the intended company strategy, and what mechanisms influence their product development rules. Originality/value – A great deal of research has investigated the relationship between the uses of structured rule-based approaches to manage product development, but little is known about what makes these rules change. This is the first study to uncover the multitude of drivers that stimulate change in product development rules and to suggest sets of moderators that influence the outcome.

Agostini, Lara ; Caviggioli, Federico ; Filippini, Roberto ; Nosella, Anna

2015 European Journal of Innovation Management

doi: 10.1108/EJIM-07-2013-0071

Purpose – In today’s economy, intangibles have become more important than physical assets for firm success. In particular, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) registered an increasing trend in patenting, exceeding large firms in the number of patent registrations. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between patents and SME sales performance, taking into consideration also patent quality. Design/methodology/approach – The approach uses panel regression model to investigate the relationship between patenting and sales, controlling for firm size and firm age. The authors adopt a purposive sampling technique focusing on a sample of Italian SMEs in the mechanical industry. Findings – The results show that the count of patents do not have any effect on sales performance, while the number of jurisdictions where the protection is extended produces a positive and significant result. Practical implications – The main implication for SME entrepreneurs and managers is that relying on a large number of patents does not automatically lead to higher performance; instead, filing those patents which protect particularly valuable innovations could be more productive in terms of SME sales performance Moreover, the results suggest that a longer time lag between patent filing and SME sales performance might be possible. Originality/value – This paper is one of first attempts to shed light on the issue regarding SMEs patent quality. It is notable that the quality of patents in terms of geographical scope is positively associated to SME sales performance.

Altuna, Naiara ; Contri, Anna Maria ; Dell'Era, Claudio ; Frattini, Federico ; Maccarrone, Paolo

2015 European Journal of Innovation Management

doi: 10.1108/EJIM-06-2014-0058

Purpose – Social innovations are defined as innovative products or services motivated by the goal of meeting a social need, with the opportunity to create new social relationships or collaborations. Although developing social innovations has been the primary concern of non-profit organizations so far, there are signs of an increasing involvement in this type of innovations of for-profit firms, in an attempt to accomplish their corporate social responsibility strategies. This notwithstanding, there is very limited knowledge on how for-profit organizations can develop a capability to manage social innovation projects. The purpose of this paper is to provide exploratory evidence to fill this gap. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents and discusses a case study of a firm that has been involved in social innovation for years. It is Intesa Sanpaolo, a for-profit organization that leads the Italian banking sector. Findings – The case study points to the existence of three managerial antecedents of a superior ability in social innovation: integrating CSR in its business strategy with a strong commitment from the top management; separating the activities concerned with the development of social innovations from the rest of the organization, following to the structural ambidexterity model; applying the principles of open innovation to the development of social innovations, by involving in particular non-profit organizations as a source of ideas for new social innovation projects and leveraging them to enable adoption of the new products and services. Originality/value – So far there is very limited knowledge on how for-profit organizations can develop a capability to manage social innovation projects. This paper provides exploratory evidence to fill this gap.