International Journal of Innovation Science

Ko, Chih-Huei; Wu, Sou-Chin; Chen, Chien-Yu

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-10-2018-0101

Numerous studies have examined individual attitudes and behaviors in both face-to-face (FTF) communication and computer-mediated communication (CMC). However, little research has focused on differences between FTF communication and CMC with respect to idea generation for new product development or on the role of their individual characteristics. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the influences of FTF, CMC and brand knowledge on idea generation.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a 4 × 2 quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of four types of interactive groups (low and high level of FTF × low and high level of CMC) and brand knowledge (low and high) on novel and practical idea generation. Data from168 members of the Mondeo Motor Club in Taiwan were assessed.FindingsParticipants with more FTF interaction were more likely to generate novelty ideas than practicality ideas. In addition, participants with high brand knowledge produced more novel and practical ideas compared with participants with low brand knowledge. However, the empirical findings did not support the moderating role of brand knowledge in the relationship between interactive behaviors and idea generations.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study are relevant for facilitating the “novelty” and “practicality” ideas in virtual brand communities. However, this research examined a single community, which may limit the generalizability of its results to other virtual communities.Originality/valueFew studies have focused on online idea generation from a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) interaction perspective. The results of this study can assist marketers to understand how C2C interactive behaviors differentiate the “novelty” and “practicality” ideas.

Ghosh, Vinit; Bharadwaja, Manaswita; Yadav, Sresha; Kabra, Gaurav

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-12-2018-0132

In the context of team's influence on its members, this paper aims to investigate the effects of team-member exchange (TMX) on members' innovative work behaviour (IWB). The current study presents a moderated mediation model and examines the mechanisms and conditions involved in TMX-IWB relationship.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research methodology was adopted where 156 engineering and management students (grouped into 33 teams) were given a task in the form of an assignment to be completed in three weeks’ timeframe. Post task, perceptions about TMX and IWB of members were captured using a questionnaire and the innovative output of each team was assessed using multi-rater technique.FindingsPsychological empowerment fully mediates TMX’s effect on team member's IWB. Furthermore, the results indicate that creative self-efficacy moderates the mediated path from TMX to IWB via psychological empowerment. The mediating effect of psychological empowerment is stronger when creative self-efficacy of a team member is higher. Furthermore, the relation between group-level innovative behaviour and the team's innovative output has been established.Originality/valueThe current research has contributed to the limited literature on team performance and management. This paper has uniquely investigated psychological empowerment in the context of TMX and IWB. The paper has encapsulated the theoretical and practical underpinnings of the mediated effect of psychological empowerment on team members' innovation-oriented behaviour.

Bashir, Makhmoor; Farooq, Rayees

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-10-2018-0103

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the linkage between knowledge management, business model innovation and firm competence. The study attempts to summarize a few important and essential issues which future research should address.Design/methodology/approachResearchers have conducted an extensive review of the literature covering 50 journals from various databases like Scopus, ProQuest and Emerald. A total of 88 articles from 1997 to 2018 on knowledge management and business model innovation were selected and analyzed.FindingsThe study found that the integration of knowledge management and business model innovation leads to a sustainable competitive advantage. The relationship between knowledge management, business model innovation and firm competence seems to be fragmented because of various meaning and conceptualizations. The study endeavors to examine the relationship between the dimensions (knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge dissemination, knowledge application and knowledge reuse) of knowledge management and business model innovation (value proposition, assets and capabilities, revenue and cost architecture and actors in business networks). The study highlights that chief knowledge officers have a vital role to play in enhancing knowledge management orientation of a company so that knowledge regarding new ways of value creation and value capture is heard within an organization.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides a distribution schema of knowledge management and business model innovation articles based on different search criteria by highlighting different future research avenues. The study is believed to serve as a basis and be a valuable tool for researchers to understand the current and future scenarios about knowledge management and business model innovation. Researchers also acknowledge the limitations of this study with regard to exclusive search criteria, which might affect its generalizability.Practical implicationsThe study argues that better knowledge sharing between departments could benefit value creation and therefore drive the organization toward business model innovation which would automatically boost firm competence. The study has made an attempt to highlight the role of Chief Knowledge Officer with regard to business model innovation. Therefore, the proposed model developed in this review will help the organization to better understand the role of knowledge management and business model innovation.Originality/valueThis is one of the first systematic reviews of knowledge management and business model innovation which provides a detailed understanding of the past and future research on the two.

Dong, Yinhong; Pang, Lilan; Fu, Lili

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-03-2018-0027

Using statistical analysis, this paper aims to understand and investigate the factors for starting a new company successfully. Indicators from the literature and the data analysis prove that entrepreneurial environment, ability, intentions and self-actualization affect the success rate of entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachTo analyze the success factors for entrepreneurship, the authors take entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurial ability as the independent variables, self-actualization as the mediating variable and entrepreneurial intentions as the dependent variable. Then, the authors build the frame model of the influencing factors according to entrepreneurial intentions based on the self-actualization mediating effect of college students. At last, four hypotheses are proposed based on this frame model.FindingsThe empirical research proves that the better the entrepreneurial environment, the stronger the entrepreneurial intentions of college students; the stronger the entrepreneurial ability of students, the stronger the entrepreneurial intentions; and under the mediating effect of self-actualization, entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurial ability will affect entrepreneurial intentions strongly. Finally, based on the empirical results, this paper proposes to pay attention to entrepreneurship education and strengthen the construction of the entrepreneurial environment to better enhance entrepreneurial intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has a few limitations because, as it refers to the sample for college students and the new start-up, it would require a more generalized analysis of the factors, such as to include more and better indicators for demographic, economic and institutional determinants of the entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurship. For further studies on entrepreneurship, the validate measuring scale of the concept must be addressed.Practical implicationsThe present work shows that optimizing the entrepreneurial environment and improving the entrepreneurial ability of college students can enhance the success rate of the entrepreneurship. Besides, the entrepreneurial intentions should be enhanced from outside to inside. Namely, stimulate the entrepreneurial desire of college students from the external environment, such as policy support, ideological education and mobilization on employment options and other aspects of new college graduates. The psychological aspects of graduates should be guided.Originality/valueFor the study of entrepreneurial intentions, most scholars mainly studied the entrepreneurial psychology to discuss its relationship with entrepreneurial intentions in the early years, and gradually extended to the study of external factors, such as the entrepreneurial environment. However, the study on graduate entrepreneurship has yet to be improved. Based on the existing research, this paper makes an in-depth study on the influence mechanism of entrepreneurial intentions from entrepreneurial ability and entrepreneurial environment, puts forward a research model taking self-actualization as a mediating variable and studies the intrinsic driving force of entrepreneurial intentions.

Lim, Michael; Ong, Bee Yong

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-09-2017-0086

This paper aims to increase our understanding of the nature and role of communities within organizations with regard to innovation management, the drivers of community innovation and macro-processes of community innovation management.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first use an inductive qualitative technique to analyze data gathered from a UK university to build up the concept of communities of innovation and then refine the concept of communities of innovation by contrasting it to the more established literature on communities of practice. Finally, with the aid of existing literature on collaborative innovation and the innovation processes, the authors induce from the data the drivers of community innovation and the three macro-processes of community innovation management.FindingsThe research findings suggest communities of innovation play a central and pivotal role in contributing to the generation of innovations within organizations. Drivers of innovation included corporate culture, money and time, intellectual property management, motivation, knowledge facilitators, activists and maintenance and opportunities to interact. The three macro-processes of community innovation management are identified as divergence management, gateway management and convergence management.Research limitations/implicationsAs this is an exploratory research into communities of innovation, all the 11 communities of innovation analyzed belong to ABC University. It is necessary to expand on this research within the education industry, as well as into other industries to further test the reliability of the findings in this paper.Practical implicationsBusiness executives who have a better understanding of communities of innovation, the drivers of community innovation and the macro-processes of community innovation management will be better able to promote innovation within their organizations.Social implicationsGovernments that have a better understanding of communities of innovation, the drivers of innovation and the macro-processes of community innovation management will be better able to promote innovation within their countries.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first research studies attempting to understand communities of innovation and the macro-processes of community innovation management.

Wang, Yinqiu; Luo, Hui; Shi, Yunyan`

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-04-2019-0044

This paper aims to explore international talent mobility and identify its negative/positive factors.Design/methodology/approachBibliometric data from Scopus are explicated to model the mobility network and providing a more comprehensive posture. In addition, by using indicators of complex network, significant features of international talent mobility are described quantitatively. After that, by introducing a kind of improved gravity model with multiple linear regression, the authors identify factors to explain international talent mobility flows.FindingsWith the analysis of international talent mobility in complex network, the overall network is not balanced. A small part of developed countries and developing countries with good emergency attract and drain a lot of talents and talents usually moving between these countries, the amount of talents leaving or entering into other countries is very limited. Furthermore, according to multiple linear regression, it is found that the share of migrants in population is the major negative factor for international talent mobility, and the factors of destination countries is more significant than original countries.Originality/valueThe result of this paper may support further research studies and political suggestions for cultivating, attracting and retaining scientific and technological talents in the world.

Wang, Ruihua

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-11-2018-0125

Knowledge sharing in a master-apprentice pattern is the process of transferring tacit knowledge from masters to apprentices. In addition, 90 per cent of knowledge required for organizational innovation is tacit knowledge in the master-apprentice pattern. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of knowledge sharing in master-apprentice pattern and explore the consequences of how to improve the knowledge sharing in the master-apprentice pattern.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses asymmetric evolutionary game theory to study the evolutionary track of knowledge sharing in master-apprentice pattern of innovative organizations by analyzing the utility of masters and apprentices during the process of knowledge sharing in master-apprentice pattern of the innovative organization.FindingsThe results reveal that when the masters obtained utility from sharing knowledge is greater than that from hoarding knowledge, and the apprentices obtained utility from studying hard is greater than the costs, the innovative organization can get the largest utility from the knowledge sharing in the mater-apprentice pattern.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of the research is that this paper mainly studies knowledge sharing among individuals and does not research knowledge sharing between individuals and organizations.Practical implicationsThis research has extended the understanding of knowledge sharing in master-apprentice and its evolution path. Also, the obtained findings are conducive to promoting knowledge sharing in master-apprentice and improving human resource management in innovative organizations.Originality/valueThis paper attempts to construct the evolution path of knowledge sharing in master-apprentice pattern, which is a useful exploration of the dynamics of knowledge sharing in master-apprentice pattern and makes up for the shortcomings of the existing research.

Wang, Qi; Wu, Qiuming

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-03-2019-0027

The purpose of this study was to measure the innovative performance of a managed and owned mainland Chinese family business. The objective of the study was to assist an inheritor and/or successor of a family business and to find management problems in innovative activity.Design/methodology/approachTo improve the innovative technical efficiency (TE) of the business, the study offers methods that enhance the allocation of resources to provide outcomes that improve the core competitiveness of the business and realize the sustainable development of the business. Innovation performance is a well-organized and efficient way of turning innovation input into innovation output. Human input, research and development expenditures measure innovation input. Patent output and other outputs, which include total labor productivity and asset liability ratios, measure innovation output. To complete the study’s task, the innovative performance of 46 Chinese listed family run and owned businesses were evaluated based on the data envelopment analysis and the Banker, Charnes and Cooper model.FindingsThe results of the study show that the overall TE of innovation in a Chinese family run and owned business is low and that the returns to scale of most such businesses is decreasing, and furthermore, that the overall innovation performance of is low.Originality/valueThe implications from the study further suggest that for business efficiency and increased profit a beneficiary of a Chinese family-owned business should optimize the firm’s size and resource allocation.

Almeida, Fernando; Kennedy, Andrew John; Lin, Brook; Nowak, Irina V.

2019 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-04-2019-0046

This study aims to demonstrate the values and effects of innovation becomes a challenge when selecting clear and correlating measures. While there is extensive research in the area of innovation measurement, there is a lack of consistent quantifiable measures that organizations can use. The International Association of Innovation Professionals (IAOIP) has partnered with Spigit to crowdsource innovation measures via the Innovation Measurement Standard (IMS) challenge with IAOIP members and the global public to determine the various ways innovation is measured across industries.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a mixed-methods approach and a sequential exploratory design to analyze the data collected during the IMS challenge. In the first phase, the qualitative methodology was used to analyze innovation measures submitted during the IMS challenge and participants’ interactions and comments. In the second phase, the innovation measures were analyzed quantitatively to identify the most prominent measures.FindingsA total of 73 innovation measures were collected during the challenge. In total, 18 top measures were ranked based on the participants’ votes, and the top five measures were selected as the winning measures of the challenge. These five measures included intelligent failure rate, financial results of innovation, the results brought to the company, the number of innovative ideas selected for action and innovation portfolio balancing.Originality/valueThis study is the first to select the innovation metrics while considering their relevance to the community of innovators that included academics, CEOs, consultants, innovation managers, etc. Another original factor of this work is the crowdsourcing approach used to identify innovation measures. This approach allowed us to explore multiple perspectives on the significance of each submitted measure.