Innovation Attributes Research Articles

Key attributes of agricultural innovations in semi-arid smallholder farming systems in south-west Zimbabwe

In Sub-Sahara Africa, which includes Zimbabwe, about 80% of the population depends on agriculture for subsistence, employment and income. Agricultural production and productivity are, however, low. This has been attributed to a lack of appropriate innovations despite the huge investments that have been made to promote ‘innovations’ as a means to safeguarding agriculture-based livelihoods, which raises the question of how innovations are conceptualized, designed and implemented. This paper explores the key attributes of agricultural innovations by assessing how innovations are conceptualized, designed and implemented in semi-arid smallholder farming systems in south-west Zimbabwe. The study gathered information from 13 key informants and a household survey of 239 farmer households from Gwanda and Insiza districts. Results showed a multiplicity of understandings of agricultural innovations among different stakeholders. However, novelty/newness, utility and adaptability were identified as the major attributes. In general, farmers characterized agricultural innovations as ‘something new and mostly introduced by NGOs’ but did not associate them with the key attributes of utility and adaptability. More crop-related innovations were identified despite the area being suitable for livestock production. The paper concludes that, rather than view the multiple and sometimes competing understandings of agricultural innovations as undesirable, this should be used to promote context specific innovations which stand a better chance of enhancing agriculture-based livelihoods.

Moderating effects of Personal Innovativeness on the Innovation Acceptance Intention(Smart Device Utilization for classes) : Based on Rogers Innovation Attributes

Moderating effects of Personal Innovativeness on the Innovation Acceptance Intention(Smart Device Utilization for classes) : Based on Rogers Innovation Attributes

Business model innovation from the strategic posture perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the differentiated paths followed by firms to innovate in business models, among four different strategic postures and also to determine the innovation interactions between business model components, among strategic postures. The authors intend to highlight the differentiated patterns of business model innovation (BMI) in each strategic posture and provide guidance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) managers regarding the suitable alignments of business model components when they innovate in their business model.Design/methodology/approachThe research model developed and tested in this work uses a composite model that borrows from the logic of Miles and Snow’s cycle of adaptive strategic choices as well as Demil and Lecocq’s perspective of permanent change within and between components of a business model. The authors’ model is designed first to encompass the differentiated patterns characterizing the relationships between the strategic posture of defender, prospector and analyzer profiles and the related innovation attributes of their business model components. The study was conducted with independent French manufacturing SMEs ranging from 10 to 250 employees in size and having revenues below €50m (European Commission, 2007). The analysed sample includes 169 firms from 14 sectors representative of French manufacturing SMEs.FindingsResults confirm the differentiated propensity to adopt specific BMI behaviours among strategic postures. The authors also highlight the differentiated interactions between and within BMI components. These results suggest that SMEs tend to leverage specific BMI components related to their entrepreneurial, engineering and administrative choices. Thus, firms tend to evolve in a posture-specific, path-dependent dynamic consistency in which BMI attributes interact towards a limited set of alternatives, thus anchoring the new business model into strategic choices. It has been shown that the predictability of strategy–BMI alignment is contingent on the level of fit between empirically derived strategic profile attributes and Miles and Snow’s ideal profile attributes.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper investigates strategy–BMI alignments without addressing such alignments from the standpoint of firm performance. Still, performance from a BMI perspective lies in the ability of the firm to sustain the dynamic consistency of its business model components by identifying the effects of change in interactions between and within components on overall BM performance. Further studies should explore dynamic consistency as a means for firms to generate and maintain performance by innovating in their business model when facing specific contingencies. The conceptual framework designed for the present research seems appropriate for conducting such an investigation on the performance implications of strategy–BMI fit.Practical implicationsThis research offers insights regarding manufacturing SMEs seeking guidance when changing business strategy. Indeed, by combining Miles and Snow’s configurational framework of strategic postures with Demil and Lecocq’s RCOV BM framework, the authors provide insights that can bridge the gap between intended strategy and realized strategy. The authors suggest that when realizing new strategic choices, SMEs should favour behaviours of BMI that are likely to fit the new intended strategic posture. Accordingly, the authors introduce a set of field-based BMI alignments specific to firms’ strategic posture to support the strategic management of innovation in SMEs.Originality/valueBy unravelling the alignments between strategic posture and business model innovation, this work contributes to enlightening the dynamics of Miles and Snow’s adaptive cycle. Indeed, viewing Miles and Snow’s typology from the configurational perspective of BMI provides a clearer picture of the adaptive cycle through which BMI reflects the path-dependent process of the formation of the firm’s strategic posture through the transformation of its business model.

Kaiser's School of Nursing: A 70-Year Legacy of Disruptive Innovation.

A legacy project was launched in 2016 to research, capture, and record the history and voice of Kaiser Foundation School of Nursing alumni. The inspirational stories of these early nursing pioneers emerged within a disruptive and innovative health care system known as Kaiser Permanente. Led by a doctorally prepared nurse director, the new school boldly rejected the dominant social norms of the 1940s by welcoming minorities and offering an unprecedented curriculum that prioritized prevention, health promotion, and wellness over conventional institutionalized sick care models. Kaiser Foundation School of Nursing alumni became Kaiser Permanente's earliest nurse leaders, educators, and care advocates. They helped revolutionize the key concepts of integrated patient care. As early innovators, many graduates pursued advanced degrees and were instrumental in defining expanded nursing roles, including the introduction of nurse practitioners in California. How Kaiser Foundation School of Nursing transcended the traditions and cultural norms of the day offers a reflective narrative on the enduring leadership attributes of disruptive innovation and the nurse executive's role in reimagining care for future generations.

New Generation Cooperatives as a Response to the Economic Crisis in Greece

The severe Greek economic crisis has created several financial and social challenges. The rise in unemployment had a consequence that a significant percentage of city-dwellers had to leave their homes mostly in Athens and continue their life in rural areas of Greece. Small agricultural holdings that were inherited and never utilized in the years of economic prosperity are now utilized. New business structures have emerged to tackle unemployment and the loss of income. As a result, the first new generation cooperative (NGC) named Efkarpon was established in Karditsa, Greece, in 2012. It is a vertically integrated cooperative, which uses innovation in production and processing of superfood fruits. Factor analysis and SWOT analysis are used to specify the cooperative potentials and manage members' expectations. The results reveal that the members joined in the Efkarpon mostly because they liked the innovative attributes of the effort and recognized entrepreneurial opportunities in superfoods. The credibility of the pioneers of this innovative venture seem to have played the key role.

Operationalising organisational routines for science and technology management: an exploratory study

This paper explores an approach to the operationalisation of organisational routines. This effort builds on recent work that argues for the utilisation of organisational routines as the unit of analysis to assess individual and organisational behavioural changes that might result from innovation policies. However, a significant challenge in utilising organisational routines has been in the operationalisation of the concept. In this paper, we adopt a previously developed technology management routine framework and operationalise routines using existing survey data using the allocation of time spent in different research tasks as a proxy for routines. Hypotheses are developed that test the impact of routine categorisations on the innovation attributes of a research environment and job satisfaction of employees and tested using survey data from a research organisation focused on atmospheric research. We conclude with a discussion of the results and the need for a better understanding of routines in the management of scientific and technological research.

Operationalising organisational routines for science and technology management: an exploratory study

This paper explores an approach to the operationalisation of organisational routines. This effort builds on recent work that argues for the utilisation of organisational routines as the unit of analysis to assess individual and organisational behavioural changes that might result from innovation policies. However, a significant challenge in utilising organisational routines has been in the operationalisation of the concept. In this paper, we adopt a previously developed technology management routine framework and operationalise routines using existing survey data using the allocation of time spent in different research tasks as a proxy for routines. Hypotheses are developed that test the impact of routine categorisations on the innovation attributes of a research environment and job satisfaction of employees and tested using survey data from a research organisation focused on atmospheric research. We conclude with a discussion of the results and the need for a better understanding of routines in the management of scientific and technological research.

DMRfinder: efficiently identifying differentially methylated regions from MethylC-seq data

BackgroundDNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that is studied at a single-base resolution with bisulfite treatment followed by high-throughput sequencing. After alignment of the sequence reads to a reference genome, methylation counts are analyzed to determine genomic regions that are differentially methylated between two or more biological conditions. Even though a variety of software packages is available for different aspects of the bioinformatics analysis, they often produce results that are biased or require excessive computational requirements.ResultsDMRfinder is a novel computational pipeline that identifies differentially methylated regions efficiently. Following alignment, DMRfinder extracts methylation counts and performs a modified single-linkage clustering of methylation sites into genomic regions. It then compares methylation levels using beta-binomial hierarchical modeling and Wald tests. Among its innovative attributes are the analyses of novel methylation sites and methylation linkage, as well as the simultaneous statistical analysis of multiple sample groups. To demonstrate its efficiency, DMRfinder is benchmarked against other computational approaches using a large published dataset. Contrasting two replicates of the same sample yielded minimal genomic regions with DMRfinder, whereas two alternative software packages reported a substantial number of false positives. Further analyses of biological samples revealed fundamental differences between DMRfinder and another software package, despite the fact that they utilize the same underlying statistical basis. For each step, DMRfinder completed the analysis in a fraction of the time required by other software.ConclusionsAmong the computational approaches for identifying differentially methylated regions from high-throughput bisulfite sequencing datasets, DMRfinder is the first that integrates all the post-alignment steps in a single package. Compared to other software, DMRfinder is extremely efficient and unbiased in this process. DMRfinder is free and open-source software, available on GitHub (github.com/jsh58/DMRfinder); it is written in Python and R, and is supported on Linux.

Developing a sustainable service innovation framework for the hospitality industry

PurposeThis study aims to determine essential attributes of sustainable service innovation (SSI) in the Taiwan hospitality industry.Design/methodology/approachBy combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies while considering perspectives on sustainable management and service innovation, the present study extends the related literature on SSI and presents a new framework. The decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) analytical approaches are used to identify relations between dimensions and their causality attributes.FindingsThe findings of the DEMATEL result indicate that innovation diffusion has direct and indirect effects on dimensions of sustainable innovation and on organizational factors. Furthermore, sustainable innovation emerged as the most important attribute while the analytic network process analysis was used.Practical implicationsThe critical dimensions identified in this study may serve as guidelines that hospitality practitioners or hotel managers may use when engaging in SSI.Social implicationsSustainability management is ranked the most important criterion of sustainable practice, which indicates that considerations of sustainability are necessary when hospitality managers wish to carry out a sustainability project in an organization. Furthermore, organizational capabilities were ranked the most important criteria among all organizational factors. This finding implies that the first step involves establishing a shared vision.Originality/valueThe current study integrates and applies Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovations theory (DIT) to identify how to facilitate sustainability through service innovation. In so doing, this study can add to our knowledge in the hotel industry by using the DIT.

The Determinants Factors of Biogas Technology Adoption in Cattle Farming: Evidences from Pati, Indonesia

Even though biogas technology has been introduced in Indonesia since 1990’s and having the potential, the rate of biogas adoption in Indonesia runs slowly. It is important to understand factors encouraging or discouraging potential adopters to build biogas plant. The development of livestock sector especially cattle farming in Indonesia can be seen as the opportunity to increase the rate of biogas adoption. This study investigated the factors affecting households of cattle farmer to adopt or not to adopt biogas technology. A cross-sectional research survey was carried out by using structured questionnaires as the primary tool to collect data from both biogas adopters and non biogas adopters in Pati regency, Indonesia. Socioeconomic characteristic of potential biogas adopters plays an important role to ensure the adoption of biogas technology sustainable. Socioeconomic characteristic regarding having high social status determines individual to adopt biogas relatively earlier than other members of a social system. Having high income and education enables traditional farmers to finance biogas plant by their own money or access aid from the government or other agencies. Among other attributes of innovation, relative advantage of installing biogas plant is the most determinant attribute to speed the rate of biogas adoption. Having biogas plant was perceived as better option and generated more benefits compared to previous technology or method.Article History: Received May 17th 2017; Received in revised form August 5th 2017; Accepted Sept 6th 2017; Available onlineHow to Cite This Article: Wahyudi, J. (2017) The Determinant Factors of Biogas Technology Adoption in Cattle Farming: Evidences from Pati, Indonesia, Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 6(3), 235-240.https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.6.3.235-240

Innovation attributes and managers' decisions about the adoption of innovations in organizations: A meta-analytical review

The adoption of innovations has emerged as one of the dominant research topic in the management of innovations in organizations, though investigations often yield mixed results. To help managers and researchers improve the effectiveness of their efforts, the authors employed meta-analysis integrated by structural equation modeling to analyze the associations between the attributes of innovations, behavioral preferences of managers and organizations' innovation adoption decisions in a mediated-moderated framework. Our findings offer evidences that attributes of innovations influence behavioral preferences of managers and, in turn, adoption decisions in organizations. We also observe that the context in which the adoption decision takes place and the research settings employed by scholars matter. Finally, the theoretical contribution and practical implications of our meta-analytical results are discussed.

The ironies of new innovation and the sunset industry: Diffusion and adoption

Agriculture plays a vital role in the Malaysian economy. Within the agriculture sector, paddy is considered important as it is the staple food for the nation. Innovation is considered as an important and necessary component in the development of agricultural activities, while communication is the powerful tool to further strengthen this sector. Technology adoption would only take place if innovation is driven by farmers’ need. Innovation diffusion technology transfer and adoption are all inter-related facets in increasing crop production. This study examined the influence of innovation attributes, communication channels and awareness in aiding diffusion and adoption of green fertilizer technology innovation in paddy farming in Malaysia. Past innovation diffusion studies have had limited emphasis on the importance of communication for diffusion and adoption of green fertilizer technologies. Hence, there exists a gap that demands specific studies to be undertaken. This study adopted a quantitative method through survey dissemination to fulfil the aim and objective of this study. 366 paddy farmers were selected from Perak to be the respondents. Demographic and multiple regression analysis were carried out on the data. Examining these results is an important first step toward understanding factors that could make the paddy sector in Malaysia more sustainable. From the analyzed data, this study found that certain attributes which are compatibility, interpersonal communication, mass media and awareness have an influence on green fertilizer technology adoption among the local farmers in Malaysia. The results indicate that the level of farmers awareness and information about innovation in general, innovation diffusion process and the extent of attributes in innovation. The study have several implications for government agencies and policy makers in the agricultural sector. Impact of study on Malaysian context are also proposed.

Adoption of renewable energy technologies in Mexico

PurposeThis research aims to analyse cognitive factors, innovation attributes and their influence on adoption of solar renewable energy technologies (RETs) for urban households in Mexico. It expands existing cognitive frameworks by including variables from diffusion of innovation theory.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of the data of 291 urban consumers and through the use of partial least squares (PLS), the proposed model was empirically tested. Finite mixture PLS method helped identify two market segments.FindingsFindings suggest that beliefs about consequences of adopting RETs have significant influence in shaping consumer’s attitudes towards RETs which were found to be an accurate predictor of the behavioural intention to adopt these technologies. Regarding innovation attributes, the results show that for a solar heater to be adopted, it should be compatible with the social values of the consumer. Triability and relative advantage show little influence on attitude formation. Two market segments found differ on the basis of beliefs and attitudes.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to analyse consumer responses to solar energy in residential urban settings.Practical implicationsOrganizations wanting to increase their consumer base need to develop sound technological innovations with high levels of compatibility a low complexity.Originality/valueThe study combines diffusion of innovation theory with cognitive frameworks and finds that innovation attributes become strong predictors of intentions to adopt RETs.

Using Twitter as an ELT Tool in the Saudi EFL Context

The present study aims at investigating English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Saudi students’ adaption of Twitter and utilizing it as an English language learning tool and the different characteristics of each adopter category using Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI). It targets both the foundation year Saudi female university students studying EFL at the English Language Institute (ELI) at King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) as well as the male and female Saudi students studying English at English language institutes abroad. The sample will consist of 50 female preparatory year students (PYS) studying EFL at the ELI. Their ages will range between the ages of 18 and 21 years old and will all be likely to come from an Arab origin. Furthermore, the study will include 50 male and female English learners who are studying abroad. This quantitative study uses a three parts questionnaire. The first part will request demographic information from participants such as age, years of experiences, academic ranking, and the level they are studying in the students' case. In the second section, participants were asked to choose the response that describes the degree to which they use the innovation (Twitter). In the last section, participants were asked to read 23 statements that measure the different characteristics of each adopter category which influence the user intention and behavior. The 23 statements were based on the five perceived attributes of innovations derived by Rogers (2003). A five-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly agrees to strongly disagree was applied to assess the perceived attributes of Twitter. The researcher aims at identifying valuable insights on how much the social network website Twitter is accepted and used as a learning tool for Saudi language learners. Therefore, based on the findings of this study, researchers in the same field may expand the study by moving to further experimental research that maybe carried out to investigate the effectiveness of Twitter as a teaching tool in the ELI classroom at KAU and other language institutes outside the Kingdom.

Facilitation roles and characteristics associated with research use by healthcare professionals: a scoping review

BackgroundImplementing research findings into practice is a complex process that is not well understood. Facilitation has been described as a key component of getting research findings into practice. The literature...

The innovation debt penalty: Cost of debt, loan default, and the effects of a public loan guarantee on high-tech firms

High-technology firms per se are perceived to be more risky than other, more conventional, firms. It follows that financial institutions will take this into account when designing loan contracts, and that this will manifest itself in more costly debt. In this paper we empirically test whether the provision of a government loan guarantee fundamentally changes the way lenders price debt to high-tech firms. Further, we also examine whether there are differential loan price effects of a public guarantee depending on the nature of the firms themselves and the nature of the economic and innovation environment that surrounds them. Using a large UK dataset of 29,266 guarantee backed loans we find that there is a high-tech risk premium which is justified by higher default, but, in general, that this premium is altered significantly when a public guarantee is provided for all firms. Further, all these loan price effects differ on precise spatial economic and innovation attributes.

Drivers and consequences of green product and process innovation: A systematic review, conceptual framework, and future outlook

Drawing clear conclusions from the literature on green innovation is challenging, due to its sheer breadth and the inconsistent insights it offers. This study systematically addresses this issue by conducting a systematic literature review of articles on innovation in green products and processes, with the aim of enhancing conceptual clarity and consistency, thus, advancing theory and research. This study reviewed 195 articles relating to both green product and process innovation published during 1991–2016. The articles were analyzed in terms of key attributes of green product and process innovation using content analysis. Based on the analysis, this study identifies the key drivers and consequences, mediators and moderators and develops a conceptual framework of green product and process innovation. It also discusses the limitations and main theories of green innovation literature, and articulates potential paths for future research.

Factors Influencing Customer’s Acceptance of Islamic Banking Products and Services

The emergence of Islamic banking system has had a huge impact on the financial industry. This research attempts to identify the influential factors that are associated with Islamic banking adoption between the Muslim and non-Muslim populations in Sarawak, Malaysia. With the “adoption of Islamic banking” as the dependent variable, this study studies its relationship with seven independent variables. They are, four attributes of innovation, namely; 1) relative advantage, 2) compatibility, 3) observability and 4) complexity, and three additional variables namely; 5) perceived risk, 6) perceived trust and 7) customer innovativeness. A convenient sampling method is used whereby a questionnaire is administered to 436 respondents in Sarawak, Malaysia. Using the logistic regression method, three factors; 1) compatibility, 2) relative advantage/observability and 3) complexity are found to have significant relationship with customers’ adoption of Islamic banking products and services.

Evaluating the influence of information and communications technology on food security

Background: This study integrates the diffusion of innovation, technology acceptance model and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory to assess the role that information and communications technology (ICT) plays in ensuring food security. A survey of smallholder farmers from the iLembe district municipality of the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa was conducted, and the data were used to test the proposed model.Objectives: The study evaluates the influence of ICTs in improving food security in KwaZulu-Natal Province. A theoretical framework was developed as the lens through which diffusion and adoption of ICTs can be understood. The theorised model was developed using constructs from the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, technology acceptance model (TAM) and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory.Method: Survey data from 517 smallholder farmers from the district municipality of iLembe were collected using a questionnaire. A quantitative approach was followed, and the developed theorised model was analysed using structural equation modelling techniques.Results: This study proposes that ICT influence on food security is associated with culture, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The study further finds that perceived ease of use of ICTs has the most significant effect with regard to ICT adoption and diffusion amongst smallholder farmers in iLembe district municipality. There are, however, no associations found with perceived attributes of innovation and the nature of social systems. The study consisted of a largely homogeneous social system; therefore, the researcher could not make any comparisons.Conclusion: The proposed framework for evaluating the influence of ICTs on food security put forward in this study highlights a number of issues. Firstly, there is need for further study to be conducted to understand adoption of ICTs specifically for food security. This would help in creating more accurate adoption strategies. Secondly, the study informs ICT innovation developers on the need to prioritise ease of use of ICT-based interventions when developing innovations that focus on smallholder farmers. The study also contributes to policy guidelines and suggests clear guidelines be developed to address cultural aspects such as gender imbalances.

Technical advancement and the stimulation of companies innovation activity by business support organisations in developed regions

Motivation: Currently, an increasing role in achieving the competitive advantage is attributed to knowledge and its conversion to new products and services. For this reason, institutions have been set up, which are designed to stimulate the innovation activity in the economy. Their development was initiated in developed countries, and then moved to the developing countries. Aim: The article presented the influence of business support institution, which most frequently occur in the Polish reality, i.e., technological parks, technological incubators, academic business incubators, technology transfer centers, business angel networks, local or regional loan funds, credit guarantee funds and training-advisory centers for the innovation activity of industrial companies with consideration of the manufacturing techniques used by them in the developed regions of Poland, i.e., from the Lower Silesia, Silesia and Greater Poland. Results: Innovation attributes were distinguished according to the standards of studying the innovation activity contained in the Oslo methodology. For the conduct of analyses the probit modeling was used. The hypothesis of the article is the statement that the innovation of companies will grow after establishing cooperation with business support institutions, while its level will be bigger when the level of manufacturing technique used by the companies is bigger.