International Journal of Innovation Science

Foguesatto, Cristian Rogério; Volkmer Martins, Bibiana; Tavares da Silveira, Fabiane Aparecida; Faccin, Kadígia; Balestrin, Alsones

2023 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-05-2022-0093

Talented people with interpersonal skills and competencies are pivotal for creating knowledge, innovation and organizational effectiveness, contributing to local development. In this regard, the quality of life is a critical factor in attracting and retaining talented people in any region. This study aims to analyze talents’ perception of the quality of life in an urban innovation ecosystem. This study considers talents to be the students from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics programs.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyzes 263 students from three of the country’s most important universities located in the city of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil. This study examines the data using principal component analysis and cluster techniques.FindingsThe results indicate five clusters. The “Love for the city” and the “Mixed” ones portray high levels of a sense of belonging to the city, but differ, for example, in their perception on city infrastructure. Conversely, both the “Worried about education” and the “Worried about commercial services” ones express low levels of a sense of belonging in the city. The “Security” cluster portrays the highest level on security issues in the city. The cluster analyses provide detailed information on the factors valued by talents in urban innovation ecosystems.Originality/valueTo date, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first that uses cluster techniques to measure talents’ perception of the quality of life in an urban innovation ecosystem. The findings contribute to mapping talents’ perception and building profiles which may support the development of policies and programs to attract and retain qualified people in innovation ecosystems.

Odei, Samuel Amponsah; Appiah, Michael Karikari

2023 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-06-2022-0107

This paper aims to empirically examine the factors driving the acquisition of patents and foreign technologies in 2,198 firms spanning multiple industries in Visegrád countries.Design/methodology/approachTo fulfil the research objectives, the authors used the binary logistic regression models for the empirical specifications to analyse the various hypotheses to ascertain the factors contributing to patents, foreign technologies and international quality certificate acquisitions in Visegrád countries.FindingsThe results show that technological innovations, in-house and external research and development, intense competition from the informal sector and external knowledge search positively influence firms to acquire patents, foreign technologies and international quality certificates. The study further showed that certain firm characteristics, such as size, having a board of directors, female top managers and top managers’ experience, positively influenced firms’ ability to obtain patents, foreign technologies and international quality certificates.Originality/valueThe authors provide new insights into understanding the factors contributing to international technological linkages in the context of transitional countries such as the Visegrád four group. The authors have shown that international technology linkages through foreign technology licences and international quality certifications are vital for innovations in transition economies.

Imam, Tasadduq

2023 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-01-2021-0002

There are uncertainties concerning how innovators can successfully venture into disruptive innovations and how incumbents can react to the emergence of such innovations. Disruptive digital innovations, which use information technology to disrupt business contexts and can evolve rapidly to either successes or failures, have unique challenges. The literature has largely remained silent concerning these. Also, existing studies often focus on innovations originating in developed economies and just on successful cases. There is a lack of comparative focus on successful and failure cases emerging across economies. The purpose of this paper is to fill these gaps.Design/methodology/approachThis paper assesses the evolution of disruptive digital innovations in various contexts through a financial management-motivated conceptual framework. Contrary to existing works, this paper focuses on both successful and failure cases and regards the influence of various stakeholders further to innovators and incumbents to explain the successes or failures of the innovation.FindingsThere are some common success factors for disruptive digital innovation. These include an inherent focus on social value, alignment to financiers' interests and rivals' actions and strategic collaborations to create a synergy effect.Research limitations/implicationsInnovators can cause effective digital disruption by focusing on social and financial values. Success can also largely depend on strategic partnerships rather than actions by an individual entity. Thus, venturing and managing disruptive digital innovation is not an isolated but a social process.Originality/valueThis paper recommends propositions for innovators and incumbents to venture into and confront disruptive digital innovations effectively. Its originality lies in focusing on both successful and failure cases, unexplored in literature, to develop the propositions.

Iddris, Faisal; Dogbe, Courage Simon Kofi; Kparl, Emmanuel Mensah

2023 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-05-2022-0092

This study aims to assess how employee innovativeness, employee self-efficacy and customer-centricity intervene in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness of insurance firms.Design/methodology/approachThis study was a survey, with data collected using a structured questionnaire. The population was the insurance firms in Ghana, and the target respondents were employees. The sample comprises 218 employees drawn from 19 insurers. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThis study concludes that transformational leadership had a direct effect on organizational competitiveness. Employee innovativeness partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness. Employee self-efficacy moderated the effect of transformational leadership on employee innovativeness. Finally, customer-centricity moderated the effect of employee innovativeness on the organizational competitiveness of insurance firms.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should pay particular attention to the individual dimensions of transformational leadership (individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence), in combination with the other constructs studied.Practical implicationsInsurance is a service industry, which sells mostly unsolicited products. Customer-centricity is therefore very crucial in achieving organizational competitiveness. Attention should also be paid to transformational leadership and employee self-efficacy, as they enhanced employee innovativeness needed for competitive advantage.Originality/valueThis study contributed to the understanding of the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness, by identifying employee innovativeness, employee self-efficacy and customer centricity, as intervening variables.

Abdelwahed, Nadia A. Abdelmegeed; Soomro, Bahadur Ali; Shah, Naimatullah; Saraih, Ummi Naiemah

2023 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-12-2021-0218

Women’s entrepreneurship has become an essential movement in developing economies and is accepted in all working areas. This study aims to propose the effect of institutional support (IS) and entrepreneurial knowledge (ENK) on women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy (WESE) and venture performance (VP) in a developing country, namely, Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThe constructive theoretical framework comprises of an extensive review of current literature. In this study, the researchers used a deductive approach that used cross-sectional data collected through women entrepreneurs completing a questionnaire. Consequently, this study comprised 324 usable samples.FindingsThe structural equation model reveals that formal institutional support (FIS), informal institutional support (IFIS) and ENK have a positive and significant effect on WESE that is concerned with the VP. Finally, WESE is a potent construct that mediates the association between FIS, IFIS, ENK and VP.Practical implicationsThis study’s findings provide policymakers and government with guidance so that, by providing entrepreneurship and technical courses to develop more entrepreneurial self-efficacy, they focus more on women’s entrepreneurship. Ultimately, this improves VP. Finally, this study’s findings would provide guidelines for allocating financial assistance or funds for women. By using these funds, they can start their businesses to tackle miserable conditions, i.e. poverty and unemployment.Originality/valueThis study’s findings help to support the creation of self-employment opportunities and starting a business to improve well-being and socioeconomic conditions.

Bashir, Makhmoor

2023 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-06-2021-0110

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of strategic flexibility on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) performance, and how such effects are mediated by business model innovation (BMI).Design/methodology/approachData was collected in the form of surveys from 200 SMEs located in Saudi Arabia. The collected data were analyzed with structural equation modeling using Amos 23.FindingsThe results highlighted that strategic flexibility has a direct and significant influence on SME performance. Moreover, BMI partially mediates the relationship between strategic flexibility and SME performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that managers should be made aware that strategic flexibility can be an important driver for BMI which in turn would enhance SME performance. This study argues that the perks of strategic flexibility are irrespective of firm size. Furthermore, BMI can help improve the performance of SMEs by unlocking new opportunities for value creation and value captureOriginality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is one of the first to test the relationship between strategic flexibility and SME performance through BMI.

Dani, Mugdha Vinod; Gandhi, Aradhana Vikas; Sharma, Anshu

2023 International Journal of Innovation Science

doi: 10.1108/ijis-07-2022-0119

Innovation is a process that enables organizations to sustain and prosper in a competitive business environment. This study aims to understand the key drivers of innovation within organizations from the lens of employees.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a grounded theory approach based on semi-structured in-depth interviews of 20 professionals working in information technology (IT) firms. Judgmental sampling was adopted to select the respondents. Open coding, inductive analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts to generate relevant themes.FindingsEmerging themes indicate that innovation within organizations can be triggered as a response to client requirements or the employees’ inherent urge to innovate. Certain factors such as user engagement, formal organizational processes and practices, informal collaborative practices, the role played by experts and leaders and upskilling were seen to enable innovative outcomes within organizations.Practical implicationsFindings from this study will allow leaders to activate the identified drivers by designing suitable organizational processes and strategies to nurture a successful innovation culture within their teams.Originality/valueThis grounded theory-based study looks at drivers of innovation within IT organizations from the perspective of employees.