Incremental Process Innovation Research Articles

To Seek Program Accreditation, Innovation, or Both?—Examining the Interdependencies in High-Reliability Health Care Organizations

In dynamic markets, organizations have to be ambidextrous to adapt to constant change. Simultaneously, organizations are increasingly required to adopt quality management accreditation. Standardization through accreditation bares the risk of limiting an organization’s dynamic capabilities. In this study, we aim to evaluate the determinants of organizational decision-making to seek accreditation and pursue innovation activities, whether accreditation and innovation activities help organizations reach their strategic goals, and if accreditation affects the ability to achieve ambidexterity. We explore these relationships in high-reliability health care organizations. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 physicians and 14 quality managers in hospitals that provide specialized cancer care in Germany. In an inductive grounded theory approach, we develop a conceptual model of the relationship between accreditation and innovation activities. We find that hospitals engaged in both activities to achieve quality and financial goals. For smaller hospitals, accreditation was a necessary condition to be able to compete in market environments. Regardless of competition, smaller hospitals benefitted from a positive effect of accreditation on incremental process and product innovation. For larger hospitals, obtaining accreditation was a necessary condition to acquire additional funding, but the influence on innovation activities was limited because these were already being pursued with high intensity. Ideally, program accreditation and innovation activities can be aligned to achieve superior quality and financial performance through organizational ambidexterity. Organizational decision-makers must align both activities while taking account of costs and benefits. Policy makers can support access to high quality care by setting incentives to acquire accreditation.

When Being Large Is Not an Advantage: How Innovation Impacts the Sustainability of Firm Performance in Natural Resource Industries

This paper provides an in-depth study of how incremental innovation, a ubiquitous factor, affects the sustainability of performance of small- and large-sized firms differently. Specifically, this work examines the sustainability of firm growth in natural resource industries. In these industries, innovation is mainly based on processes in the form of incremental changes, and the adoption of innovations has significant sunk costs. We argue that, before incremental process innovation, firm performance is directly proportional to firm size. However, in the presence of incremental innovation events, firm performance is inversely proportional to firm size since smaller firms pose higher strategic flexibility and can adopt innovations faster. Our empirical findings highlight the relevance of incremental innovation as an inflection point of firm performance, creating a competitive opportunity window for small firms and a sustainability threat for large firms.

How Innovation Impacts Firm Growth Dynamics in Natural Resource Industries

Growth has generally been considered a crucial objective for a firm, and, consequently, it has become one of the most researched subjects in economic sciences. This paper aims to provide an in-depth study of how incremental innovation, a ubiquitous factor, affects the growth of small and large-sized firms differently. Specifically, this work examines firm growth dynamics in natural resource industries. In these industries, innovation is mainly based on processes in the form of incremental changes, and adoption of innovations has significant sunk costs. We argue that, before incremental process innovation, firm growth is directly proportional to firm size. However, in the presence of incremental innovation events, firm growth is indirectly proportional to firm size, since smaller firms pose higher strategic flexibility and can adopt innovations faster. Our empirical findings not only confirm the dependency of growth rate on firm size, rejecting Gibrat’s Law of Proportionate Effect, but highlight the relevance of incremental innovation as an inflection point of firm growth, creating a competitive opportunity window for small firms.

Program Accreditation, Innovation, or Both? – The Interdependencies in Specialized Cancer Care

Objective To understand (a) the determinants of hospitals’ decisions to seek program accreditation and pursue innovation activities in specialized cancer care, (b) whether accreditation and innovation activities help hospitals reach their strategic goals, and (c) how program accreditation and innovation activities influence one another. Data Sources Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with hospital physicians and quality managers (n=25). Study Design Comparative case study of hospitals that provide specialized cancer care in Germany (n=19). Data Collection/ Extraction methods Inductive grounded theory approach and coding of interview transcripts across multiple waves to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between program accreditation and innovation activities, including determinants of both measures at the environmental and organizational levels. Principal Findings The hospitals in our sample engaged in program accreditation and innovation activities in order to achieve quality and financial goals. However, the strategic focus varied across different hospital types. For smaller hospitals, such accreditation was a necessary condition to be able to compete in competitive market environments. Regardless of competition, smaller hospitals benefitted from a positive effect of accreditation on incremental process and product innovation. For larger hospitals, obtaining accreditation was a necessary condition to acquire additional funding, but the influence on innovation activities was limited because these were generally already being pursued with high intensity. Conclusions Seeking program accreditation and pursuing innovation activities are not contradictory strategies for hospitals. Ideally, both can be aligned in such a way that the quality and financial performance outcomes achieved are superior to those that would be possible were only one of these strategies to be pursued or to predominate. Hospital decision-makers must align both activities while taking account of costs and benefits. Policy makers can support access to high quality care by setting incentives for hospitals to acquire accreditation.

Entrepreneurial Patching: How do Start-ups Implement Incremental Innovation through Complementarities

Mass phenomena of incremental innovation in start-ups in hybrid markets through complements have continued to emerge. However, the existing literature lacks such categories of research. Thus, it is necessary to explore how start-ups implement incremental innovation. By studying four SaaS exceptional growing start-ups that service four distinct traditional industries in the Zhongguancun Science Park of Beijing in China, we contribute a theoretical framework describing an incremental innovation process of dominant products in start-ups through complementarities in hybrid markets as entrepreneurial patching: (i) The dominant logic of entrepreneurial patching is the logic of learning by patching within start-ups; (ii) and the framework indicates that entrepreneurs focus on top-down patching in product markets while dominant product teams focus on bottom-up patching in product development. Central to our contribution is the notion that entrepreneurial patching effectively helps illustrate incremental innovation processes of dominant products in start-ups.

Continuous improvement behaviors and impacts on innovation

PurposeThis paper investigates whether adopting continuous improvement (CI) behaviors is related to better radical and incremental product and process innovation performance and identifies whether CI behaviors positively affect respondent perceptions on CI contributions to innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 139 firms in Brazil, and cluster analysis was used to identify groups with different CI adoption levels. The nonparametric Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test was used to verify differences in innovation performance at companies via manager perceptions on CI and innovation.FindingsData show that more CI behavior implementation was associated with better product and process innovation performance. Furthermore, companies with more mature CI behavior levels innovate more, which may reinforce CI investments.Practical implicationsOrganizational managers focused on innovation should dedicate time to evaluating and developing CI behaviors, and maturing CI philosophies to improve performance. This study can contribute to the literature by offering insights for developing public policies, especially for emerging economies, or for companies seeking to become more competitive, since CI can foster and promote a culture of long-term innovation.Originality/valueDespite the fact that a relationship between CI and operational performance has already been established, there is still a lack of research that identifies the impacts of CI behavior on innovation. Focusing on CI behavior is important because it can be fostered by various programs and improvement initiatives, highlighting paths for managerial practices and academia. This study was conducted for an emerging economy.

Gibrat’s Law, Incremental Innovation and Firm Growth Dynamics in Natural Resource Industries

This paper examines firm growth dynamics in natural resource industries. In these industries, innovation is mainly based on processes in the form of incremental changes, and adoption of innovations has significant sunk costs. We argue that, in a steady state before an incremental process innovation, firm growth is directly proportional to firm size. However, in the presence of incremental innovation events firm growth is indirectly proportional to firm size, since smaller firms pose higher strategic flexibility and are able to adopt innovations faster. Our findings confirm the dependency of growth rate on firm size, highlighting the relevance of incremental innovation as a determinant factor of firm growth, rejecting Gibrat’s Law of Proportionate Effect.

How quality management can enhance performance? A model of relationships mediated by innovation

The aim of this study is to analyse how soft and hard quality management (QM) practices enhance incremental and radical product and process innovation, and operational and financial results, and the paths from QM to financial results via innovation and operational results. The paper examines these relationships applying Partial Least Squares (PLS) and using data from 105 firms. The results show that soft QM is associated with hard practices, with incremental and radical product and process innovation, and with operational and financial results, but hard issues have no positive association with innovation, nor with operational and financial results. The results also show the path from soft QM to: (a) operational results via innovation, and (b) financial results via innovation, via operational results, and via both innovation and operational results. This study adds to the literature the mediating role of both innovation and operational results on the relationships between soft QM and financial results. It contributes to practitioners by showing the importance of both innovation and operational results to strength the association between QM and financial results, and the different paths from QM to financial results.

Examining the interplay between big data analytics and contextual factors in driving process innovation capabilities

ABSTRACT The potential of big data analytics in enabling improvements in business processes has urged researchers and practitioners to understand if, and under what combination of conditions, such novel technologies can support the enactment and management of business processes. While there is much discussion around how big data analytics can impact a firm’s incremental and radical process innovation capabilities, we still know very little about what big data analytics resources firms must invest in to drive such outcomes. To explore this topic, we ground this study on a theory-driven conceptualisation of big data analytics based on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm. Based on this conceptualisation, we examine the fit between the big data analytics resources that underpin the notion, and their interplay with organisational contextual factors in driving a firm’s incremental and radical process innovation capabilities. Survey data from 202 chief information officers and IT managers working in Norwegian firms are analysed by means of fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Results show that under different combinations of contextual factors the significance of big data analytics resources varies, with specific configurations leading to high levels of incremental and radical process innovation capabilities.

Mapping the coevolution, leadership and financing of research on viral vectors, RNAi, CRISPR/Cas9 and other genomic editing technologies.

Genomic editing technologies are developing rapidly, promising significant developments for biomedicine, agriculture and other fields. In the present investigation, we analyzed and compared the process of innovation for six genomic technologies: viral vectors, RNAi, TALENs, meganucleases, ZFNs and CRISPR/Cas including the profile of the main research institutions and their funders, to understand how innovation evolved and what institutions influenced research trajectories. A Web of Science search of papers on viral vectors RNAi, CRISPR/Cas, TALENs, ZFNs and meganucleases was used to build a citation network of 16,746 papers. An analysis of network clustering combined with text mining was performed. For viral vectors, a long-term process of incremental innovation was identified, which was largely publicly funded in the United States and the European Union. The trajectory of RNAi research included clusters related to the study of RNAi as a biological phenomenon and its use in functional genomics, biomedicine and pest control. A British philanthropic organization and a US pharmaceutical company played a key role in the development of basic RNAi research and clinical application respectively, in addition to government and academic institutions. In the case of CRISPR/Cas research, basic science discoveries led to the technical improvements, and these two in turn provided the information required for the development of biomedical, agricultural, livestock and industrial applications. The trajectory of CRISPR/Cas research exhibits a geopolitical division of the investigation efforts between the US, as the main producer and funder of basic research and technical improvements, and Chinese research institutions increasingly leading applied research. Our results reflect a change in the model for financing science, with reduced public financing for basic science and applied research on publicly funded technological developments in the US, and the emergence of China as a scientific superpower, with implications for the development of applications of genomic technologies.

IT’S MINE, I DECIDE WHAT TO CHANGE: THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL OWNERSHIP IN EMPLOYEES’ PROCESS INNOVATION BEHAVIOUR

Employees play a major role in enabling organizations to innovate their processes. While conditions for participation have to be established, barriers have to be lowered and trainings take place, the motives of employees to participate in incremental and discontinuous process innovation are not well understood. One important soft factor not addressed yet sufficiently is psychological ownership of non-managerial employees that can contribute to increase process innovation activities. We apply a multi-time survey design gathering quantitative data which is analysed with structured equation modelling. The findings suggest that psychological ownership is important in fostering innovation behaviour with incremental innovation behaviour being an important mediator for the effect on radical innovation behaviour. We show how psychological ownership is useful in fostering process innovation behaviour with data from the financial services sector. Organisations should invest in establishing psychological ownership on the level of operations to increase process innovation.

Towards a deeper understanding of the emergence of process innovations: Which role do inter-organisational learning and internal knowledge exploitation play?

Abstract We demonstrate that suppliers as external partners act as promising information sources for incremental process innovations, while internal knowledge is more likely to provoke radical process innovations. However, this relation changes if suppliers are come from a distant geographic or a distance industry sector. Our paper contributes to the ongoing discussion surrounding operation innovations by highlighting that the distance between the industry sector of supplier and manufacturer accounts for the degree to which manufacturers are able to benefit from external information. Our findings add to an improved understanding of how internal knowledge stocks can be effectively combined with external knowledge.

Ambidextrous capacity in small and medium-sized enterprises

This study examines the ambidextrous capacity—the ability to respond simultaneously to both disruptive and incremental innovation processes—of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Portugal. The purpose is to understand the organizational ambidexterity of SMEs and its relationship to organizational performance and innovation capacity. The objectives are to evaluate the characteristics that identify ambidextrous organizations and analyze the effect of organizational ambidexterity on performance, supported by the contingency-based approach, organizational theory, behavioral theory of the firm, and organizational learning theory. After factor analysis is performed, a structural equations model is used to analyze a sample of 202 valid responses. The analysis shows that, for SMEs, disruptive innovation factors relate mainly to innovation capacity and incremental innovation factors relate to organizational performance. The confirmation of organizational ambidexterity in SMEs and the increased recognition of the importance of disruptive innovation are relevant contributions to the literature.

Marketing innovation and up-and-coming product and process innovation

This paper focuses on the influence of different marketing innovation types impacts on product and process innovation. Marketing innovation is investigated through the report of innovation in terms of capabilities of product/service design, promotion and marketing methods. The cross-national research sample consists of 380 entrepreneurs from Croatia, Poland and the UK. The empirical results indicate significant contribution of different types of marketing innovation to product and process innovation therefore pointing towards essential importance of marketing in the firms' innovation performance. Product and service design have been proven to have the most significant role in the successful product and process innovation, innovation in marketing methods contributes to radical product innovation whereas innovation in promotion to incremental process innovation.

Exploring lean manufacturing practices' influence on process innovation performance

Little is known about the effects of lean manufacturing practices on the process innovation performance of manufacturing organisations. This research aims to fill this gap and explore the aforementioned interdependency. A research framework consisting of 22 measurement scales and three pairs of hypotheses was developed based on an extensive literature review. A large-scale self-administered questionnaire was distributed among appropriately selected industrial experts. Datasets obtained from 340 usable responses were analysed through confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple linear regression models. The findings suggest that both technical and human lean practices have a moderate to strong positive impact on the input and occurrence of incremental and radical process innovation in manufacturing organisations. In turn, as an output of process innovation, this appears to enhance companies' operational performance. Thereby, the results dispel the scholarly and managerial misconception that LM and innovation are difficult to coexist.

A proposal for a scale measuring innovation in a total quality management context

The aim of this study is to propose a measure of innovation dimensions (incremental product innovation, incremental process innovation, radical product innovation, radical process innovation) in a total quality management context. There is a lack of studies developing reliable and valid measurement instruments of innovation to assess innovation dimensions in a total quality culture. The paper identifies the dimensions of innovation and items under each dimension on the basis of a literature review, and examines validity and reliability of the measures using empirical data from 105 organisations in Spain. Empirical results show that the four dimensions of innovation identified are reliable and valid and show the most important types of innovation for improving operational performance. The instrument can be used by managers to assess their innovation level and identify areas for improvement in order to understand the innovation results derived from total quality management practices. Researchers can use the measures to assess the effects of total quality management practices in different innovation dimensions in future studies.

The Influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Types of Process Innovation Capabilities and Moderating Role of Social Capital

Abstract Innovation either in products or processes requires innovation capability. Such ability, as a result, facilitates firms to succeed and gain competitive advantage in the industry by improving their efficiency of creating and marketing products and/or services. In this context, current research examines how risk-taking and proactivity dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation influence types of process innovative capabilities; and to what extent this relationship is strengthened/weakened by social capital. Authors collected data from chemical manufacturing firms of Pakistan, and carefully analyzed it with multiple regression technique. The findings revealed that proactivity and risk-taking facilitate incremental and radical process innovation. The moderation of social capital further strengthened the impact proactivity had on radical process innovation. However, moderation of social capital did not strengthen the impact risk-taking had on incremental and radical process innovation. Surprisingly, social capital demonstrated significantly positive impact on radical process innovation. The paper also discusses the theoretical and managerial implications.

The Relationship between Knowledge Management and Process Innovation in Malaysia Tourism Industry

Customer needs for tourism industry in Malaysia has change. To deal with it, business that involve in tourism industry should follow the customer’s standard according to latest situation. Services standard should be improve using correct ways. In this paper, we share the value of knowledge management and process innovation. This is because we believe that any changes by these organizations will be more effective using the values of knowledge management and process innovation. The values of knowledge management are management leadership, organizational learning and performance measurement while process innovations are organizational innovation and incremental process innovation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between knowledge management and process innovation in Malaysia tourism industry. Based on previous studies, a research model has been developed.

Business process innovation on quality and supply chains

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the role of business process innovation on the relationship between social quality management (SQM) and supply chain performance. To address this issue, this paper distinguishes SQM from soft quality management. This paper further refines the impact of two levels of business process innovation (radical vs incremental) on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a survey of manufacturing firms throughout the USA. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses were performed in order to examine the hypotheses.FindingsThis study confirmed the positive association between SQM and supply chain performance. While the results confirm a positive moderating relationship with incremental business process innovation between SQM and supply chain performance, radical process innovation was found to have a negative moderating role on this relationship.Originality/valueThis paper distinguishes SQM from soft quality management thus making it easier to determine which aspects of soft quality management enhance supply chain performance. This study also provides evidence of the differing ways in which business process innovation moderates the relationship between SQM and supply chain performance specifically identifying the positive and negative moderating role of incremental and radical business process innovations.

Importance of tacit knowledge in incremental innovation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the role of tacit knowledge in incremental innovation, which has hitherto been neglected.Design/methodology/approachQualitative case analysis was used to focus on two large Japanese pharmaceutical companies’ development of new antihypertensive drugs. The study uses interview data and documentary research materials to explore the knowledge bases of the companies’ research teams as they refined an existing drug to produce new products – a process of incremental innovation.FindingsExplicit knowledge (chemical structure of preceding drug) was used in both successful and failed cases of drug discovery. In the two successful cases, the tacit knowledge of key researchers, based on their long-term experience of related research, provided insight into developing compounds with good in vivo efficacy, which led to successful clinical development.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that tacit knowledge may play an important role in incremental innovation processes, and that its influence on product development should be considered in such ways as team and organization structure.Originality/valueThis study addresses a gap in the literature regarding the impact of tacit knowledge on incremental innovation processes. It is often assumed that incremental innovation is based on existing technology. This study suggests that tacit knowledge may play a hitherto largely unrecognized role in incremental product development.