International Journal of Innovation Science

Trusko, Brett E.

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/IJIS-06-2018-140

Fernandes, Cristina; Ferreira, João J.; Raposo, Mário; Sanchez, José; Hernandez–Sanchez, Brizeida

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-02-2017-0017

This paper aims to study the effects of cross-border psychological determinants among students of two Iberian universities (Portugal and Spain) on entrepreneurial intentions.Design/methodology/approachBased on previous literature, the studies do not include any model that simultaneously uses self-efficacy, risk-taking propensity and proactive personality as psychological determinants of entrepreneurial intentions. Here, the authors try to fill this gap by developing an integrative psychological model about the formation of entrepreneurial intentions, including all these variables as the main preceding factors to entrepreneurial initiative and their influence on intentions for self-employment. Taking a sample of 293 university students from both countries, the authors empirically test regression models to analyse hold influence over the preference expressed in terms of becoming an entrepreneur.FindingsThe results show differences between two countries regarding to entrepreneurial intentions. In terms of the motivations present for launching a business, the higher they are the greater the preference over the option to work for third parties.Originality/valueIn addition, and in terms of the variable perceived ease of launching a company, the higher this rises, the lower the level of preference for working for third party entities. Furthermore, the greater the level of perception in terms of the social value of entrepreneurship, the greater the preference for becoming an entrepreneur.

Kinnunen, Heidi; Holm, Emmi; Nordman, Anna-Maria; Roschier, Solveig

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-08-2017-0075

Universities are expected to accelerate and optimize their role as economic growth engines. Technology transfer is a traditional way of expanding knowledge exchange, and it is typically used in hard sciences. This paper aims to discuss academic consultancy as a novel way to bring especially social sciences, humanities and arts (SSHA sciences) knowledge into the society. In addition, it seeks practical ways to combine both university’s and individual researcher’s needs in consultancy.Design/methodology/approachA case study comprising interviews at two Finnish universities was conducted. Literature on academic consulting was used as background knowledge. International benchmarking was done through interviews and desk top studies. Some background statistics was extracted from the financial database for received research funding from businesses and ministries.FindingsCorporate funding is most prominent in hard sciences, and SSHA sciences seem to get their funding mainly from public sources. SSHA researchers provide services for firms, but these relationships are generally private. According to interviews, there is will to consult firms through university, but researcher’s time limitations, remuneration and academic merit related to consultancy are important factors when consultancy guidelines are drawn. The administration view is expanded from only research staff to include the entire university knowledge production ecosystem and its members.Originality/valueAcknowledging the value of SSHA sciences is topical because the respect towards humanities and social studies seems to be in decline in some developed countries. However, according to this study, academic consulting could have great potential in bringing the human perspective into the digitalized society. The quantification of knowledge exchange would benefit from formal, institutionalized consultancy sales. More studies are needed to assess the impact of academic consultancy on society.

Amaral, Marcelo; Toledo Hernandez, Cecília; Rodrigues Bastos, Marcellus Henrique

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-05-2017-0040

This study aims to focus on the entrepreneurial education and profile in undergraduate business administration programs in Brazil, particularly in the southern region of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Assuming that the entrepreneurial profile can be developed by teaching and learning processes.Design/methodology/approachThe research performed qualitative approach through interviews and a quantitative approach using multiple criteria decision-making methods. Data were collected along 2015 in a survey with a population of 412 students from three high education institutions (HEIs) and analyzed using the analytic hierarchy process with ratings.FindingsThe study has found that the key entrepreneurial trait for all groups was the ability to “plan”. Other relevant dimensions were “self-realization”, “innovative” and “leader”. The dimensions “risk taking” and “sociability” were considered not important in the opinion of all groups.Practical implicationsThe entrepreneurial profile does not seem to evolve over the four-year college period, thus suggesting a failure of the entrepreneurial education at the three surveyed HEIs to impact the overall perception of students about the requirements for creating and developing new ventures. Actions to revert this trend should be taken.Originality/valueThis research aims to identify differences in perception about the entrepreneurial profile among freshmen and senior undergraduates. The theme is relevant in a knowledge era where academy has to prepare students to be entrepreneurs. Similar studies were done around in Brazil and around the world but no one in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The work has a contribution by proposing and applying a method to compare students groups, programs, institutions and countries over time.

León, Gonzalo; Leceta, José Manuel; Tejero, Alberto

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/IJIS-09-2017-0090

PurposeThis paper aims to present an impact analysis in the educational dimension of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and specifically on its “knowledge and innovation community” (KIC), focused on the information and communications technology sector named “EIT Digital” in the university field.Design/methodology/approachAfter reviewing the current situation on education in ICT-related engineering and the need to address new professional profiles and/or complement the current ones to increase the value of the new professionals in a globalised society, the principles behind the EIT model are analysed, taking the experience accumulated in EIT Digital as a basis for discussion at master level.FindingsThe conceptual framework on “what” and “how” of the EIT described from the educational perspective constituted sound bases for ensuring the value of the EIT KICs as drivers for institutional innovation and structural reform. As the practical experience of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) shows, the policy experimentation space provided by EIT Digital has acted as an internal transformation driver for European universities. It has played a key role to accelerate structural reforms once partner universities assumed the need of modifying or reinterpreting “any internal regulation to participate better in the EIT”.Originality/valueThis analysis is used as a basis for the design of an institutional agenda of education transformation in the rest of the UPM where the innovation and entrepreneurship vision is inserted into the technical education to give future professionals the tools and capacities to serve as catalyser agents of the innovation system.

Sooampon, Sutti

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-09-2017-0091

This study aims to investigate growth stage of an entrepreneurial venture born within Thai university and also to explore the future growth strategy which is formulated by the departmental team and at the same time is influenced by the school’s administrators.Design/methodology/approachSingle case study approach was used to explore the growth of dental school’s internal venture aimed to produce low-cost pharmaceutical supplies. The interview data were matched with relevant entrepreneurship literatures to build theory from case study.FindingsThere is a clash in terms of growth strategy preferred by the parental organization and department-level team who found the venture. The dental school’s administrators expect their internal venture to be fully commercialized as spin-off according to typical academic entrepreneurship scheme. Differently, the entrepreneurial team prefers keeping the departmental venture inside to serve its socially entrepreneurial motivation with modest growth.Originality/valueThe case evidence implies different schools of thought that could influence the growth of university-based entrepreneurial venture. The university’s entrepreneurial development scheme thus is to incorporate such differences to move its departmental venture forward for sustainable growth.

Garcia-Montijo, Leslie; Perez-Soltero, Alonso

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-10-2017-0108

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the importance of the linkage between academia and industry from a business perspective. The analysis focuses on the impact generated from these collaboration programs to promote innovation. Data for the analysis was obtained through a measurement instrument, which allows evaluating multiple dimensions of capacity of absorption as determinants of the innovation.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology consisted of the implementation of the measurement instrument for the managers in the companies who were involved in the collaborative projects. From the answers obtained, an analysis of strengths and weaknesses was performed, categorized by absorptive capacity dimensions, satisfaction with linkage relationship and innovative impact. In addition, a comparative exercise is presented with the purpose of learning the position of the Postgraduate Program in Industrial Engineering in México, and finally, an analysis of Spearman’s coefficient was performed to verify whether the linkage influenced innovation for this case study.FindingsThere is a positive correlation between linkage and innovation. An unexpected finding was the level of satisfaction of the companies that collaborated with the academy and the real situation of each dimension to determine the improvements in the policies and mechanisms of linkage.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the main challenges of this paper was to identify and contact the managers of the projects. These projects have been performed and completed in several companies from 2011 to date. Over this time, some managers have changed their employment status and even their places of residence. Therefore, establishing contact and performing interviews with the managers directly linked to each project was a complex process.Originality/valueThis is the first paper that demonstrates and measures the relationship between linkage and innovation through an instrument of absorptive capacity, which determines the behavior of each dimension where strengths and weaknesses of collaboration relationships are detected and determines the punctual impact on innovation from the perspective of the businessmen involved.

Farooq, Rayees

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-09-2017-0087

The purpose of the study is to develop a conceptual model of knowledge sharing and how knowledge sharing is linked to business performance. The study proposes basic dimensions of knowledge sharing which seem to be poorly defined in the past literature.Design/methodology/approachThe studies were explored from journals which are indexed (Scopus, Thomson Reuters and ProQuest) and specialized in knowledge sharing and business performance. Majority of the papers were available in electronic format, so that papers could be easily explored using the key terms. Various search engines were used to explore the studies such as Google scholar, Emerald insight and ProQuest. Published theses, conference proceedings, working paper series and work in progress were excluded from the search. The review process included the studies from 1987 to 2017. During the review process, papers were explored on the basis of key word search, namely, “Knowledge sharing”, “Business performance” and “Industry type” to reduce interpretation bias.FindingsKnowledge sharing is the significant predictor of business performance and industry type moderates the relationship between knowledge sharing and business performance. The relationship between knowledge sharing and business performance is important in both manufacturing and service organizations. Knowledge sharing dimensions proposed are elementary in nature and require further refinement and development.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was approached from a theoretical perspective and the model proposed can be empirically validated by identifying statements for each dimension. Future research should explore the following: As to what extent these dimensions reflect knowledge sharing? Are dimensions chosen carefully? Or do they emerge as a result of previous studies?Practical implicationsThe model can be very helpful for managers and practitioners who want to study how knowledge sharing enhances business performance. Managers will be able to understand how industry-specific differences affect business performance through knowledge sharing.Originality/valueProposed conceptual model advances the theoretical base of knowledge sharing by suggesting dimensions based on comprehensive review of the literature. The study contributes to knowledge management and business performance literature.

Bikse, Veronika; Lusena – Ezera, Inese; Rivza, Baiba

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-05-2017-0044

The purpose of this study is to identify the problems and possibilities for development of innovative start-ups in Latvia.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the aim of this study, a survey of Latvia’s high school students in 2015 (n = 5,910) was undertaken by an online questionnaire within a financial skill built-up contest “New Financial Expert 2016” held by the Financial Institute of Swedbank (Swedbank survey, 2016). Further, Latvia University of Agriculture master students (n = 97) were interviewed in the year 2016 to identify master students opinion about necessary support for entrepreneurship, future services or goods with potentially high added value and find out their readiness for innovative action.FindingsA comparative analysis of data of the master student interviews and the survey of Latvia’s high school students showed that most of the youth associated their entrepreneurship prospects with innovative ideas, new technologies and new skills. The results of the research indicated that the foundation of start-up enterprises in Latvia led to positive results and gave an impulse to increasing economic activities as there were the necessary preconditions for their development.Originality/valueThe studies are mostly dedicated to start-ups that are less likely to innovate and have linked the concept of the start-up with business incubation. Unlike other studies, this is a specific research that provides insights into the situation in Latvia and is directed toward building innovative start-up enterprises that should be linked with the growth-oriented new technology, globalization and global market with a focus on innovation. Thus, research findings contribute to extant research on the possibilities of development of innovative start-up enterprises in Latvia and advance the present understanding of the main problems in the creation of new innovative start-ups.

Sedkaoui, Soraya

2018 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-09-2017-0092

The rise of big data and analytics companies has significantly changed the business playground. Big data and the use of data analytics are being adopted more frequently, especially in companies that are looking for new methods to develop smarter capabilities and tackle challenges in the dynamic processes. Working with big data and applying a series of data analysis techniques require strong multidisciplinary skills and knowledge of statistics, econometrics, computer science, data mining, law and business ethics, etc. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are concerned by this phenomenon which is also changing learning needs and require a reorientation toward the development of novel approaches and advancements in their programs. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and define big data analytics as having an immense potential for generating value for businesses. In this context, one prominent strategy is to integrate big data analytics in educational programs to enrich student’ understanding of the role of big data, especially those who want to explore their entrepreneurial ways and improve their effectiveness. So, the main purpose of this article consists, on the one hand, in why HEIs must carefully think about how to provide powerful learning tools and open a new entrepreneurship area in this field, and, why, on the other hand, future entrepreneurs (students) have to use data analytics and how they can integrate, operationally, analytics methods to extract value and enhance their professional capabilities.Design/methodology/approachThe author has established an expert viewpoint to discuss the notion of data analytics, identify new ways and re-think what really is new, for both entrepreneurs and HEIs, in the area of big data. This study provides insights into how students can improve their skills and develop new business models through the use of IT tools and by providing the ability to analyze data. This can be possible by bringing the tool of analytics into the higher educational learning system. New analytics methods have to help find new ways to process data and make more intelligent decisions. A brief overview of data analytics and its roles in the context of entrepreneurship and the rise of data entrepreneur is then presented. The paper also outlines the role of educational programs in helping address big data challenges and transform possibilities into opportunities. The key factors of implementing an efficient big data analytics in learning programs, to better orientate and guide students’ project idea, are also explored. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research and limitations of the study.FindingsThe findings in this paper suggest that analytics can be of crucial importance for student entrepreneurial practice if correctly aligned with their business processes and learning needs and can also lead to significant improvement in their performance and quality of the decisions they make. The added value of big data is the ability to identify useful data and turn it into usable information by identifying patterns and exploiting new algorithms, tools and new project solutions. So, the move toward the introduction of big data and analytics tools in higher education addresses how this new opportunity can be operationalized.Research limitations/implicationsThere are some limitations to this research paper. The research findings have significant implications for HEIs in the field of analytics (mathematics and computer science), and thus, it is not generalizable with any further context. Also, the viewpoint is centered on the data analytics process as a value generator for entrepreneurial opportunities.Originality/valueThis research can be considered as a contribution with literature about educational quality, entrepreneurship and big data analytics. This study describes that new analytics thinking and computational skills are needed for the newer generation of entrepreneurs to handle the challenges of big data. But, preparing them to capture, analyze, store and manage the large amounts of data available today – so they can see value in data – is not just about implementing and using new technologies. This is also, about, a dynamic, operational and modern educational learning process from which a student can extract the maximum benefit. In another words: How to make new opportunities from these data? Which data to select for the analysis? and How to efficiently apply analytical techniques to generate value?