International Journal of Innovation Science

Duening, Thomas

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-06-2017-0057

This paper is based on insights from philosophy of science, centered in Gilbert Ryle’s notion of “category mistakes”. A category mistake occurs in a science when scholars have been thinking of a phenomenon as of a certain sort, when it is really nothing of the kind. This paper aims to claim that regarding sustained enterprise innovation (SEI) as a strictly operational problem commits such a category mistake. Instead, SEI is an aspirational problem and thus requires scholars to examine it from that perspective as well.Design/methodology/approachThis paper begins by explicating Ryle’s notion of a category mistake. It develops the suggestion that innovation scholars have made such a mistake by thinking of innovation as a strictly operational problem. In reality, it is as much an aspirational problem. The paper then builds on the metaphor made famous by Isaiah Berlin, distinguishing between hedgehogs and foxes. A hedgehog is a leader who copes with the non-predictive nature of innovation. The paper builds on the findings from positive psychology and virtue epistemology to highlight how humans can act rationally in the face of non-predictive outcomes. Four virtues of hedgehog leadership are proposed and defined.FindingsThe paper concludes that hedgehog leadership is necessary for sustained enterprise innovation. It also concludes that hedgehogs can act rationally in pursuit of non-predictive outcomes by practicing a set of governing virtues.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research needs to be conducted to validate the proposed governing virtues, to illuminate the optimal hedgehog/fox balance within the enterprise, and to validate through longitudinal work the impact of hedgehogs on sustained enterprise innovation.Practical implicationsBased on the continuing interest in innovation expressed by enterprise leaders around the world, hedgehogs are in increasing demand. Fortunately, hedgehogs can be made (and self-made) via deliberate practice of the governing virtues. Aspiring and current hedgehogs can be confident that practicing these virtues and becoming increasingly adept at their application will promote and effect enterprise innovation.Originality/valueVery little research has been conducted on the aspirational aspect of SEI. This is an insidious gap in the literature, as it affects scholars and practitioners alike. Scholars are trapped in the “normal science” paradigm that treats the innovation problem as if it can be solved through operational techniques. This paper contends that this ubiquitous category mistake has led scholars down a blind alley. Instead, it is important for scholars and practitioners alike to view SEI as an aspirational problem that requires vastly different research frameworks and practitioner prescriptions.

Khin, Sabai; Ho, Theresa CF

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-08-2018-0083

Despite the growing importance of digital innovation conceptualized as innovative digital solutions that enable digital transformation of businesses across industries, empirical study of factors related to digital innovation is still scant, creating a knowledge gap. To fill this gap, this paper aims to examine the effect of digital orientation and digital capability on digital innovation, and also the mediating effect of digital innovation on the link between organizational performance and digital orientation as well as digital capability.Design/methodology/approachThis study tests a new conceptual framework using a survey data of 105 small to medium-sized IT firms in Malaysia and employing structural equation model (SEM) analysis from partial least square (PLS) approach.FindingsThe results show that digital orientation and digital capability have positive effect on digital innovation and also that digital innovation mediates the effect of technology orientation and digital capability on financial and non-financial performance.Practical implicationsThe findings encourage the firms to take the opportunity of emerging digital technologies and digitalization trend in industries by being committed toward embracing new digital technologies and upgrading their digital capabilities to become innovation leaders and also to boost firms’ performance.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first studies that explain how emerging digital technologies can be leveraged to create innovative digital products and services and subsequently boost their business performance. It also fills the literature gaps related to driving factors of digital innovation and mediating role of digital innovation on the link between its driving factors and performance.

Yagolkovskiy, Sergey

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-12-2017-0133

This paper aims to investigate relationships among correlates of individual innovative activity: creativity, innovativeness, novelty seeking and intelligence.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 202 students of the Higher School of Economics (123 females and 79 males).FindingsThe findings revealed significant relations between intelligence and fluency of participants’ creative performances, as well as novelty seeking and innovativeness.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include the correlation design, the sample of students and the self-reported measures for novelty seeking and innovativeness.Practical implicationsThe paper proposes a number of implications for researchers and practitioners who deal with innovation. The results of the study can be applied to various procedures and stages of innovation management.Originality/valueThe study contributes to knowledge on psychological correlates of innovation on an individual level, such as creativity, innovativeness, novelty seeking and intelligence, as well as produces an empirically validated model of the relationships among them.

Shang, Tiantian; Miao, Xiaoming; Abdul, Waheed

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-05-2018-0056

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate visually the knowledge structure and evolution of disruptive innovation. The paper used CiteSpace III to analyze 1,570 disruptive innovation records from the Web of Science database between 1997 and 2016.Design/methodology/approachInitially, this paper offers a comprehensive overview of papers, countries, journals, scholars and application areas. Subsequently, a time zone view of high-frequency keywords is presented, emphasizing the course of evolution of the study hotspots. Finally, a visualization map of cited references and co-citation analysis are provided to detect the knowledge base at the forefront of disruptive innovation.FindingsThe findings are as follows: the number of papers shows exponential growth. The USA has the largest contribution and the strongest center. The Netherlands shows the largest burst, followed by Japan. Journal of Production Innovation Management and Research Policy is the most important journals. Hang CC has the largest number of articles. Walsh ST is identified as a high-yielding scholar. Christensen CM is the most authoritative scholar. Engineering electrical electronic is the most widely used research category, followed by management and business. The evolutionary course of the study hotspots is divided into five stages, namely, start, burst, aggregation, dispersion and not yet formed. Eight key streams in the literature are extracted to summarize the knowledge base at the forefront of disruptive innovation.Originality/valueThis paper explores the whole picture of disruptive innovation research and demonstrates a visual knowledge structure and the evolution of disruptive innovation. It provides an important reference for scholars to capture the current situation and influential trends in this field.

Wang, Dja Shin

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-04-2018-0049

In developing countries, numerous small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must innovate because of their scarce resources. This study aims to address the ambidextrous innovation (radical and incremental) associated with firm performance on the SMEs and investigate the moderating effect of environmental factors on the relationship between technological innovation and firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors formulate a path model with the variables to investigate the impacts of the two different innovation strategies and their joint effects on firm performance. Meanwhile, they hypothesized that external environmental factors – market dynamism, labour availability, business cost and competitive hostility – moderate the association of radical and incremental innovations with firm performance. The validity of the proposed model was evaluated using a structural equation modelling approach. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the convergent validity of the constructs.FindingsThe authors find that positive association between radical innovation and firm performance; it shows that the radical innovation strategies are positively related to firm performance in SMEs. They also find that the relationship between radical innovation and firm performance has moderated by environmental factors. Second, they find that the incremental innovation strategies have a negative impact to firm performance, and the relationship between incremental innovation and firm performance has no moderated by environmental factors.Practical implicationsThis paper suggests that the managers of SMEs must involve in technological innovation, and offer fourth main implications above. In particular, the authors forewarn SMEs’ managers of the necessity of generating that the relationship between radical innovation and firm performance has moderated by environmental factors, there are approaches fourth items around.Originality/valueThis study highlights the crucial importance of the mediating role of environmental dynamism when examining the relationship between ambidexterity (radical and incremental innovations) with firm performance; firms can perceive environmental factors and develop technological innovation strategies to enhance business performance.

Ahn, Mark J.; Shaygan, Amir; Weber, Charles

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-01-2018-0006

Using a dynamic capabilities lens, this paper aims to study the impact of genomics generally and gene therapy specifically on the rare disease sector of the biopharmaceutical industry.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, 24 genomics-based, rare disease-focused biopharma companies were studied and several variables were tested with respect to enterprise value growth. The companies were analyzed as a group of rare disease firms, as well as by size.FindingsThe authors found that number of employees, revenues, number of pipeline and marketed products and retained earnings are strongly correlated (in that order) with enterprise value in rare disease focused biopharma companies. These correlations seem to be weaker as a company’s market capitalization size decreases, indicating that there tends to be increasing returns to scale.Research limitations/implicationsThis study found that increasing rates of cumulative returns to enterprise value growth depends on accumulating knowledge-based employees and expanding product portfolios of disruptive genomics-based technologies for treating rare diseases. Aggregating skilled and innovative employees (especially in bigger companies) can be seen as a cumulative bolstering factor in leveraging dynamic capabilities which can be recognized, understood and transformed into commercial success (i.e. increasing returns in enterprise value). In other words, technology managers’ job is to manage not only the financial aspects of the technology but also human resources, asset configuration and strategic alliances efficiently toward faster and better innovation. Strong dynamic capabilities can be formed with the accumulation of experience, articulation and codification of knowledge and an adaptive ability to change the way they solve problems as their environment transforms.Originality/valueThis is the first study to demonstrate and measure a relationship between dynamic capabilities and enterprise value in genomics-based rare disease firms. Further, this study highlights the importance of building the capability and capacity to absorb expertise and accumulate knowledge for new product innovations and sustainable competitive advantage in industries characterized by disruptive innovation.

Briganti, Suzan E.; Samson, Alain

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-10-2018-0102

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether innovation talent is predictive of business results. This question is important because companies exist to generate business results such as profitability and market expansion. To study this question, the authors conducted four phases of international research. They found that innovation talent is statistically predictive of business results. The Innovation Profiler (“the instrument”) is a web-based assessment tool based on the research. It was designed to detect the full array of specific innovation skills in individuals, skills that correlate with real-world business results.Design/methodology/approachThe research presented in this paper follows four phases: a qualitative phase followed by two correlational studies; and finally, a validation research phase. The researchers wanted to answer the questions: “Is innovation talent predictive of business results?” “Which dimensions of innovation talent are most predictive of business results?” The research compares the attitudes, value and beliefs of innovators (both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs) to the business results they achieved and compares innovators to the general population.FindingsThe research findings are that: innovation talent is highly correlated with positive business results. Innovators have significantly higher Innovation Profiler scores than the general population. Within the population of innovators, top scorers are associated with a larger number of positive business results than bottom scorers. Intrapreneurs, while sharing many characteristics with entrepreneurs, tend to score higher on innovation skills. The Innovation Profiler does not produce adverse selection bias with respect to gender or ethnicity.Research limitations/implicationsMost psychographic instruments are normative, including the Innovation Profiler; they rely on scaled responses that measure the extent to which individuals consider statements to apply to them personally. Normative instruments are faked more easily than ipsative (forced choice) measures, which ask people to choose from two to four answer options that are usually perceived as equally desirable. However, it has also been argued that the relative standing of respondents (i.e. their relative scores) in the samples is relatively unaffected by normative instruments.Practical implicationsThis study provides significant statistical support for the validity of the Innovation Profiler as a predictor of innovation talent and of business results from innovation. The authors hope that by identifying the innovation characteristics that correlate with business outcomes, the authors have contributed to the field. Companies can use this knowledge to accelerate their organizational transformation.Social implicationsThis research, and the Innovation Profiler based on it, enable companies to see and measure innovation talent for the first time. This talent is not held by the few and the privileged. In fact, women score as high as men and non-whites score slightly higher than whites. Innovation talent, as measured by the Innovation Profiler, can be an equalizer in the workforce. Finally, we hope that this paper helps companies attract more innovators into their workforce and to recognize and use more of their valuable skills.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to ask. “Can we predict the business results from innovation based on who is involved?” After extensive review of the literature, the authors have not found any other study asking this question. This study is also novel for: including intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs; and for including samples across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. The study demonstrates a strong relationship between innovation talent and positive business results, with effect sizes that appear to exceed personality and other factors.

Shi, Yuwen; Lin, Wei; Chen, Ping-Kuo; Su, Chun-Hsien

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-02-2018-0009

Studies have not investigated how the International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 quality management system (QMS) guides manufacturers’ and their partners’ creative processes in devising an innovative supply chain structure. Accordingly, this study aims to explore this subject.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature analysis was conducted to explore how the ISO 9000 QMS might guide manufacturers’ and supply chain partners’ creative processes and the further development of an innovative supply chain organizational structure. The systematic literature analysis is divided into the following two parts: the first part collects related literature to analyze and explore based on the research questions and purpose. The second part is an association analysis. The results of the association analysis show that these related literatures are suitable for the analysis and exploration of the research questions and purpose.FindingsThis study developed an analytic framework to compare the elements of four components of the ISO 9000 QMS and the ingredients that drive creativity and innovation; the study also reviewed related publications to deeply analyze the relationship between the elements of the four components and the ingredients of creativity and innovation. The authors observed that when manufacturers and partners implement the ISO 9000 QMS, their use of the elements of the four components engages all ingredients and thereby facilitates the manufacturers’ and partners’ creative process in the development of an innovative organizational structure.Research implicationsAccording to the results of the analysis, practitioners can understand how to improve the innovation of an organization’s supply chain from ISO 9000 QMS components. In addition, the research has resulted in developing additional research propositions concerning the relationship between the four components of the ISO 9000 QMS and ingredients that drive creativity and innovation. Based on these propositions, more research hypotheses can be further developed.Originality/valueThe research results prove that the ISO 9000 QMS has a positive effect on facilitating the creative process and innovation, with regard to the organizational structure, and it also provides the underlying reasons for this effect.

Solís, Martín; Mora-Esquivel, Ronald

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-07-2018-0073

This study aims to develop and validate a scale to measure innovative culture in work teams of the public sector (ICT).Design/methodology/approachA mixed research design was followed. An initial literature review and a qualitative study identify the possible dimensions that give content to the construct of the innovative culture. Subsequently, two quantitative studies are carried out to explore the measurement scale and provide evidence of its reliability and validity.FindingsThe results show that the ICT construct is composed of ten dimensions and likewise, exhibit internal consistency and evidence of validity.Originality/valueThis study attempts to provide an additional contribution to the conceptualization and measurement of innovative culture, through the development of a scale that consolidates the different dimensions proposed by the authors. Besides, the scale developed is the only one, as far as we know, that has been created to evaluate innovative culture in work teams.