Innovation Capability Dimensions Research Articles

Conceptual Model of Innovation Capability in Industrial and Academic Research Centers: A Systematic Review

Innovation capability has a multi-dimensional structure and the aggregate resultant performance of these dimensions would bring about the organizational success. The main aim of this study is to introduce a conceptual model of innovation capability in industrial and academic research centers. This paper is a systematic review of the papers published in the field of innovation capability dimension in industrial and academic R&D centers (especially medical sciences universities). The authors have used the standard guideline of systematic review (PRISMA). For this paper, more than 200 full-text articles published between 2000 and 2016 in valid scientific research journals were studied. Based on the conducted study, the innovation capability dimensions and their relationships in two internal and external dimensions were plotted in a conceptual model framework. On the basis of the reviewed studies, six intra-organizational capacities, the management and leadership, organizational resources, knowledge and information management, R&D, organizational culture and the organizational intangible aspects capacity, and two extra-organizational capacities, the environmental capacity of the organization and the extra-organizational relationships and interactions, effective in organization's innovation capability have been determined.

Measurement of innovation capability in supply chain: an exploratory study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of innovation capability construct measures in the context of supply chain and to objectively identify the key dimensions for stimulating focal firms’ innovativeness. Design/methodology/approach The scale items for this research were obtained from extant literature. The data were collected from homogenous sample of 117 Ghanaian middle level managers (respondents). Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the main dimensions of innovation capability. Based on the statistical analysis, four dimensions were obtained – idea management, idea implementation, collaboration and learning – and the convergent validity, discriminant validity, nomological validity and reliability tests indicate that the scales are valid and reliable Findings Four dimensions (factors) of innovation capability were identified from the exploratory factor analysis. These dimensions were labelled as idea management, idea implementation, collaboration and learning. The results indicate that the integration of the dimensions of innovation capability may stimulate a focal firm’s innovativeness. Research limitations/implications First, the measurement scale might not capture all the important dimensions of innovation capability. Second, the judgmental sampling used in this study means that the result cannot be generalised to the entire supply chain population, third, the sample was drawn from one geographical location using non-probability sampling technique. Practical implications The measures provide supply chain managers with a better approach of understanding the innovation capability in their supply chain. For instance, the measurement of supply chain’s innovation capability should help supply chain managers to determine the important innovation areas that need attention most and to permit them to respond to challenges posed by any kind of innovation capability dimension that needs to be enhanced. Originality/value The unique contribution of this paper is the development innovation capability measurement scale in the context of supply chain.

Innovation Capability: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Purpose: Innovation capability is a growing and significant area of academic research. However, there is little attempt to provide a cumulative overview of this phenomenon. The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize peer reviewed articles published in the area to develop a conceptual framework and to aid future research. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper adopted a systematic review of literature on innovation capability. The final screening generated 51 articles from 30 journals from 2000-2015. Findings: The examination and synthesis of the theoretical and the empirical articles show that (1) the authors applied narrow range of conceptual and theoretical foundations; (2) innovation capability is being investigated mostly at the firm level for about 90% of the articles, and marginally about 5% at network (supply) chain level; (3) the authors define innovation capability in different ways and use diverse set of dimensions to measure innovation capability; (4) there is potential for future research across firms in innovation management disciplines. Practical implications: The review contributes to theory development in organizational capability literature in general. Managers wishing to innovate need to examine critically and integrate some of the innovation capability dimensions proposed in this paper. Originality: The review is unique in the sense that it provides conceptualisation of innovation capability framework.

Matrix structure for supporting organisational innovation capability

The importance of an organisation’s capability to produce innovations has been noticed to be increasingly important. Previous literature has discussed appropriate organisational structures for innovation activities. The matrix structure is widely seen to be appropriate for innovation activities, as it aims to capture both the efficiency and specialisation of a functional organisation, as well as the customer focus and flexibility of a multidivisional organisation. The aim of this study is to find out whether a matrix organisational structure supports harnessing hidden innovation capability. The paper presents a study conducted in an organisation specialising in different areas of media business. The analysis shows that turning into a matrix is not an answer to realising all dimensions of innovation capability. The paper contributes to the current understanding by providing guidelines for how innovation capability can be understood in a matrix design, and also by defining guidelines for further research.

An Investigation of Innovation Capability in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of China

Over the last decades, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have grown exponentially and become a key element in China’s economy. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a compararive evaluations of innovation capabilities status of SMEs in China across different sectors. Six dimensions of innovation capability that influence mostly NPD performance of firms are identified, such as technology, organization, strategy, organizational climate, manufacturing and marketing. A practical survey was carried out in the manufacturing industry of Zhejiang Province. We find that in different firm sizes and development stages SMEs have significant disparities in intensity of different capability dimensions respectively. Medium firms has higher scores in all of innovation capability dimensions than small firms. The bottleneck of capabilities in small firms are found in Org_Process, M_C, and MKT_S. All of firms in three stages are consistently adept in MKT_L, Climate_L, and lack in Org_Process; Mature firms exhibit the greatest level in all of innovation capability dimensions, and growing firms and startup firms are lower in sequence.

Innovative capability and export performance of Chinese firms

This paper considers the role of the seven innovation capability dimensions (learning, research and development (R&D), manufacturing, marketing, organizational, resource allocating and strategy planning) and the three firm characteristics (domestic market share, size and productivity growth rate) in determining the export performances for a sample of 213 Chinese industrial firms. The empirical analysis of this research reveals the findings listed below: 1. Export growth is closely related to the total improvement of innovation capability dimensions, except for the manufacturing capability. 2. While domestic market share has no significant impact on export performances, productivity growth rate significantly increases or promotes export performances rates. Furthermore, while the larger firms demonstrate stronger export competitiveness, there has been no finding of an inverted U-shaped relationship between export and firm size. 3. The core innovation assets (a set of R&D, manufacturing and marketing) alone cannot lead to sustainable export growth. On the contrary, the supplementary innovation assets (a set of four other dimensions) not only enable a firm’s technology assets to permeate into the entire competency integration, but also make it possible for a firm to acquire sustainable international competitiveness. This paper shows that the interaction and harmonizing of various innovation assets are the primary factors in the improvement of international competitiveness of Chinese firms.