Innovation Scholars Research Articles

Preface: 3rd International Conference on Architecture, Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Technology (AGECT 2024)

The 2024 3rd International Conference on Architecture, Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Technology (AGECT 2024) was held in Barcelona, Spain from August 10-11, 2024. The conference brings together innovative scholars and industry experts in the fields of architecture design, urban planning, building materials, structural engineering, civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, and construction technology into a common forum. The main objective of AGECT 2024 was to promote research and development activities. Another goal is to promote the exchange of scientific information between researchers, engineers, PHDs, students, and practitioners working in the conference and workshop. During the conference, the conference model was divided into three sessions, including oral presentations, keynote speeches, and online Q&A discussion. In the first part, some scholars, whose submissions were selected as the excellent papers, were given about 8-15 minutes to perform their oral presentations one by one. Then in the second part, keynote speakers were each allocated 30-40 minutes to hold their speeches. We would like to acknowledge all of those who supported AGECT 2024. The help and contribution of each individual and institution was instrumental in the success of the conference. In particular, we would like to thank the organizing committee for its valuable inputs in shaping the conference program and reviewing the submitted papers. We are sure that the proceedings will serve as an important research source of references and knowledge, which will lead to not only scientific and engineering findings but also new products and technologies. With best regards, Conference Organizing Chair Barcelona, Spain

Power to the People? How Participatory Budgets Affect Citizens’ Populist Attitudes

So-called populist citizens feel excluded from political decision-making, which in their eyes is dominated by an unresponsive political elite. While democratic innovation scholars suggest that empowering citizens in the decision-making process can affect populist sentiments, this article addresses the lack of theorization and empirical research on the mechanisms behind such effects as well as the scarcity of qualitative research regarding populist attitudes. It generates a theory that accounts for changes in participants’ populist attitudes and tests this theory in a most-likely case study. An analysis of pre–post survey data and 35 semi-structured interviews from three participatory budgeting events in the Netherlands shows that for populist citizens, the inclusion of politically marginalised groups and the empowerment of citizens can explain populist attitudes change. On the contrary, the representativeness of the participants and the ability to have deeper discussions are drivers of populist attitudes change for non-populist citizens.

INCREASING OR DECREASING FRUGALITY: THE CONNECTION BETWEEN DIGITALISATION AND FRUGAL INNOVATION

Within wider debates on sustainability and digitalisation, frugal innovation (FI) scholars largely assume that digital technologies are important for FI in realising more sustainable outcomes. However, very few studies interrogate this causality. To tackle this challenge, we connect FI with digitalisation. Thereto, we conceptualise digital technologies as and within FIs and discuss three frugality dimensions to analyse three empirical case studies of digitally-enabled FIs. We use these cases to introduce new nuances on how digitalisation affects frugality and scaling. Our results unveil that digitalisation can increase frugality by enabling more accessible and affordable solutions through new flexible funding schemes and pay-as-you-go models. However, our evidence also implies decreasing frugality by an increase in end-user costs and digital exclusion. Likewise, increasing frugality through complexity reduction seems mainly to benefit intermediaries and frugal innovators themselves, whereas benefits of digitalisation in terms of complexity reduction for end-users seem to be limited. Digitalisation can even increase complexity for end-users, thus suggesting decreasing frugality. Finally, just like with non-digital innovations, scaling of digitally enabled innovations is dependent on the quality of logistical infrastructure and local adaptation practices. Moreover, scaling of digitally-enabled innovations is limited to users in regions with a proper ICT infrastructure.

Relations of care and affirmative disruptions in academia: A conversation with Katie Strom

This article features an intra-view with critical posthumanist Professor Kathryn (Katie) Strom and the co-editors of the intra-view section of this journal Jacky Barreiro and Magali Forte. Throughout their conversation, Strom shares her determination to co-create relations of care and affirmative disruptions in the neoliberal context of academia while giving concrete examples and explaining how her feminist praxis evolved. The three authors discuss several initiatives Strom and others have implemented, inspired by Braidotti’s (2019) notion and praxis of affirmative ethics among other feminist scholarship, to create spaces of support for graduate students and early career scholars. This piece encourages readers to view and understand feminist processes as affirmative disruptions to foster affective flows, challenge conventions, and inspire innovative scholarly pursuits.

Editorial: More Practical Gender Research is Needed in Higher Education Leadership and Management

This Editorial explores the challenges and barriers faced by women in leadership roles within higher education institutions using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. This Editorial investigates internal, external, and institutional obstacles hindering women's progression into leadership positions. Gender biases, socio-political traditions, cultural expectations, and institutional norms contribute to the under-representation of women in leadership roles. Additionally, internal factors such as lack of confidence and fear of failure further impede career advancement. Despite these challenges, the editorial highlights the pivotal role of women in shaping leadership standards and underscores the transformative impact of diverse leadership teams. The Editorial advocates for pragmatic scholarly approaches to considering achievement of equal opportunities for women in leadership, emphasising education, progressive workplace policies, mentorship programs, and cultural shifts. By embracing an approach nested in the macro-, meso-, and micro-level environments, a more holistic approach to research aimed at fostering innovative scholarly advancement is encouraged.

"ECHOES OF THE FUTURE: BRIDGING TRADITION AND INNOVATION IN DIGITAL HUMANITIES AND ENGLISH LITERATURE"

Digital Humanities (DH) has emerged as a transformative field that integrates computational methods with humanities disciplines, including the study of English literature. This paper explores the evolving landscape of Digital Humanities and its impact on English literature studies. Through a comprehensive literature review and analysis of case studies, it examines the various ways in which digital tools and technologies are revolutionizing the study, analysis, and interpretation of literary texts. The paper also addresses challenges and opportunities presented by the intersection of Digital Humanities and English literature studies, highlighting potential for interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative scholarship, and enhanced understanding of literary works in the digital age.

Innovation research in and on Africa: A literature analysis in 2015–2021

Innovation scholars disseminate their significant findings through international scientific journals. We conducted content analysis of 2,869 peer-reviewed articles on innovation in Africa, examining their origins, themes, collaborative networks, and scholarly influence. These articles, spanning the years 2015–2021, were curated from the Web of Science database across scientific, social science, and humanities journals. The findings reveal that 46.3% of these articles lacked contributions from African organizations or scholars, while 25.1% involved collaborations between African and non-African entities. A remaining 28.6% were exclusively authored by African scholars, with South African universities being the most frequent contributors. Notably, articles authored by scholars from non-African institutions garnered more citations and appeared in journals with higher impact factors. Key themes within these articles revolved around the knowledge economy, African business innovation, agricultural advancements, and the role of mobile phones in knowledge dissemination and marketing. Surprisingly, sustainability topics were notably absent. South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana featured prominently in the discussions. In conclusion, it is imperative to foster broader participation from African nations and scholars in innovation research and ensure a stronger African perspective in international publications. Additionally, as open-access publishing gains momentum, concerns about escalating publishing costs warrant attention.

Preface: 3rd International Conference on Education Reform, Humanities and Social Studies (ERHSS 2024)

The 2024 3rd International Conference on Education Reform, Humanities and Social Studies (ERHSS 2024) was successfully held in Los Angeles, USA from January 27-28, 2024. Each participant had 15-20 minutes to present his research. After that, 5-10 minutes were allotted for questions and discussion.
 ERHSS 2024 brings together innovative scholars and experts in the fields of education reform, historical research, humanities, legal system, and social studies to a common forum. The main purpose of the conference is to promote research and development activities. Another goal is to promote the exchange of scientific information among researchers, developers, engineers, students and practitioners worldwide. More than 90 participants took part in ERHSS 2024. Both the participants and the organizers of the conference were satisfied with this event.
 We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the members of the scientific committee for their enthusiasm and expertise. Our deep thanks also go to many volunteers and staffs for their hard work they have generously given to ERHSS 2024. Finally, we would like to thank all the authors, speakers, reviewers and participants for their great contributions.
 With best regards,
 ERHSS 2024 Organizing Committees
 Los Angeles, USA

Thinking with Paul Kramer's “Power and Connection”

I am delighted to have an opportunity to reflect on Paul Kramer's rich and highly influential “Power and Connection: Imperial Histories of the United States in the World.” Since its publication in 2011, “Power and Connection” has been a cornerstone of my graduate U.S. in the World classes and has been invoked in every graduate qualifying exam. The essay has had a direct and indirect influence on the wave of innovative scholarship that has been produced in the past decade. I first want to note some of the essay's important interventions. Then, rather than attempting to extend or update Kramer's extensive historiographical review, I want to think with “Power and Connection” by taking up two of Kramer's suggestions and discussions. First, I take up his suggestion to think about imperial power through a Gramscian frame of domination and consent, arguing that the concept of hegemonic struggle is critical for thinking about power within empires and shifts in global imperial formations. Second, I engage Kramer's discussion of the relationship between imperial and transnational histories, arguing that scholars need to consider transnationalism as a highly specific and contingent political formation, as well as an analytic category and sometimes actors' category.

Preface: 2nd International Conference on Economics, Mathematical Finance and Risk Management (EMFRM 2023)

The 2023 2nd International Conference on Economics, Mathematical Finance and Risk Management (EMFRM 2023) was successfully held during December 02-03, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This conference aims to bring together innovative scholars and experts in economic system, business statistics, mathematical finance, corporate governance, and risk management in a common forum. The main objective of EMFRM 2023 is to promote economic development research, another objective is to facilitate the exchange of scientific information among researchers, developers, engineers, students, and practitioners around the world.
 We are confident that the participants benefited from the theoretical insights, practical knowledge, and personal contacts that will help them to build a long-term and sustainable communication among researchers and practitioners in related scientific areas. EMFRM 2023 invited scholars and experts from various universities to participate in the review and guidance of this conference. The conference focuses on the latest research fields, aims to provide an international cooperation and exchange platform for experts, scholars, and business managers to share their research achievements. This collection of proceedings compiles oral and paper presentations submitted by the authors and scrutinized by the special committee.
 EMFRM Organizing Committees
 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The High Vocational Innovation Scholarship Program: A TVET Curriculum Continuous Quality Improvement Using Feedback from Stakeholders

This research aimed to 1) evaluate the TVET curriculum of Vocational Education Institutions participating in the high vocational innovation scholarship program, the Equitable Education Fund (EEF), Thailand by applying the CIPPIEST Model and 2) analyse the feedback from this evaluation process. Key informants from 60 vocational education institutions in all regions of Thailand and participate in the high vocational innovation scholarship program for Batch 1 (Academic Year 2019) and Batch 2 (Academic Year 2020) under the EEF. Each institution consists of 1 college administrator and 1 teacher or instructor who perform academic duties and implement the TVET curriculum in the institution, totalling 120 persons. Instrumentation involved a curriculum evaluation form containing items based on the CIPPIEST Model and administered online with google forms to facilitate the sample’s responses. Data analysis included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and content analysis. Results of the evaluation with the CIPPIEST Model showed the overall mean at a high level. The 3 top-ranked issues rated at a high level were sustainability evaluation; product evaluation; and effectiveness evaluation, respectively. The 4 lower-ranked issues also rated at a high level were transportability evaluation; process evaluation; context evaluation and input evaluation, respectively. Additionally, it was found that educational institutions with leadership-oriented administrators are able to lead better and inspire their personnel to work together successfully; drive for co-development of educational curriculum that fits the needs, proficiency, social and cultural contexts of the local community where the institution is located; and also establish collaboration among personnel and external agencies to participate in the management of education effectively, thus bringing about an innovative and unique curriculum at a particular educational institution.

Preface: 2nd International Conference on Architecture, Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Technology (AGECT 2023)

The 2023 2nd International Conference on Architecture, Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Technology (AGECT 2023) was held in Barcelona, Spain from September 9-10, 2023. The conference brings together innovative scholars and industry experts in the fields of architecture design, urban planning, building materials, structural engineering, civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, and construction technology into a common forum. The main objective of AGECT 2023 was to promote research and development activities. Another goal is to promote the exchange of scientific information between researchers, engineers, PHDs, students, and practitioners working in the conference and workshop.
 During the conference, the conference model was divided into three sessions, including oral presentations, keynote speeches, and online Q&A discussion. In the first part, some scholars, whose submissions were selected as the excellent papers, were given about 8-15 minutes to perform their oral presentations one by one. Then in the second part, keynote speakers were each allocated 30-40 minutes to hold their speeches.
 We would like to acknowledge all of those who supported AGECT 2023. The help and contribution of each individual and institution was instrumental in the success of the conference. In particular, we would like to thank the organizing committee for its valuable inputs in shaping the conference program and reviewing the submitted papers. We are sure that the proceedings will serve as an important research source of references and knowledge, which will lead to not only scientific and engineering findings but also new products and technologies.
 With best regards,
 Conference Organizing Chair
 Barcelona, Spain

The importance of risk and insurance teaching within the ARIA mission

AbstractThe American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA) is a scholarly association devoted to the study of and promotion of risk and insurance economics and has a history of innovative scholarship in fields that are vital to economic development and resiliency throughout the world. Association members have an equally important mission and history of passing along important knowledge to students and the risk professions. The Risk and Insurance Teaching Society (RITS) was established as part of the pedagogical and academic program roles of ARIA. This paper outlines the importance of pedagogy within business higher education and more specifically within the academic discipline of risk and insurance and the increasing role that RITS plays in pedagogical innovation and idea sharing among risk and insurance academics.

The new needs friends: Simmelian strangers and the selection of novelty

AbstractResearch SummaryThe paradox of rejecting novel ideas while being motivated to select them exists in many realms. Deviating from prior research that investigated several internal levers to promote the funding of novel ideas in the sciences, we focus on an external lever by investigating how seconded employees increase the selection of novel ideas in two ways: (1) they select more novel ideas themselves, and (2) they influence permanent employees to do the same. Combining unique quantitative longitudinal data and 37 in‐depth interviews, we test our predictions in the secondment program at the National Science Foundation and find broad support for our theoretical arguments. Our findings have implications for scholars of science and innovation by proposing a relatively light‐touch intervention to facilitate the selection of novel ideas.Managerial SummaryOrganizations often face a paradox: they want to select novel ideas but tend to reject them. This study shifts focus from internal measures to an external solution, examining how seconded employees can help. Through both quantitative data and interviews at the National Science Foundation's secondment program, we found that seconded employees choose more novel ideas and influence permanent staff to do the same. This suggests a simple intervention can significantly boost the acceptance of innovative ideas, offering valuable insights for those in the science and innovation. Understanding this dynamic can empower managers to strategically leverage seconded employees, fostering a more innovative and adaptive organizational culture.

The multifaceted concept of disruption: A typology

Although strategic management scholars have long been interested in disruption as a phenomenon, the latter has not been systematically categorized yet. Building on the existing literature, we develop a typology that encompasses four types of disruption: technological, business model, regulatory, and social movements. Our semi-systematic review of the literature sheds light on the characteristics of disruptions and proposes a classification along two dimensions rooted in existing research: whether a disruption is “constraining” vs. “unconstraining”, and whether it has an insider-driven vs. outsider-driven origin. We then consider three key phases of strategic action—predictability, ambiguity in response, and imitability—to explore how industry players are affected by the four types of disruption. Our proposed framework is empirically validated in a series of six mini case studies. Our article helps innovation scholars disentangle the nature of different types of disruption depending on their primary cause and shows how non-technological disruptions can challenge incumbents’ status.

Editorial

Our ten-year celebration of Fashion, Style & Popular Culture (FSPC) ends with the arrival of new associate editors, editorial board members and innovative scholarship. Editor Joseph H. Hancock, II discusses how various state legislatures targeting gender identity, seeking to block health care for trans kids, and preventing young queer people from joining sports teams, among other issues. Retailers such as Target Corporation have become victims of right-wing conservative protestors who demand the retailer remove their 2023 pride shops in the front of their stores. Fashion is a driving force of gender identity and gender expression. By teaching others on the importance of fashion, style and popular culture in the LGBTQIA community is crucial for new generations to stop hate – this must end.

Recognition and Assessment of Digital Scholarly Outputs in the Humanities

Watch VIDEO. In recent years we have observed an increase in digital practices and outputs in scholarship, which should be understood as a standard evolution of scholarly practices to take advantage of digital technologies. And although written genres, such as the monograph or essay, remain dominant in the humanities, the range of technological possibilities allow scholars to redefine those forms of expression and enrich them with other media or genres. However, as the opening example showed, this innovation is not supported by the assessment system, or even sometimes takes place in spite of it. A change in attitude requires recognition of three key aspects of digital humanities work: (1) its interdisciplinarity in borrowing tools and methods from ICT or social sciences; (2) the new research practices which should be recognised as valid scholarly work; (3) innovative scholarly outputs that go beyond the traditional genres but provide valid research results. This presentation discusses the recommendations of the ALLEA E-Humanities Working Group with regards to the assessment of novel scholarly communication genres in the humanities. The work is based on the group’s previous report, Sustainable and FAIR Data Sharing in the Humanities, which provided recommendations on data practices in the humanities. The current focus is on attuning institutional policies to emerging scholarly needs in connection to current research assessment reform (CoARA). The recommendations are prepared in close cooperation with stakeholders and the research community. It underwent an open consultation whereby we collected more than 200 comments from the public. The final draft is under preparation and will be published in fall 2023. The ALLEA E-Humanities Working Group recommendations are meant to serve as guidance for institutions and evaluators to embrace innovative outputs in the humanities and thus create space for their development. The Working Group has prepared tailored recommendations which could be divided into two main groups. First, the group focuses on the cross-cutting issues pertinent to digital practices in the humanities, which are (1) linking studies with underlying data, (2) updating and versioning of the outputs, (3) collaboration and authorship, (4) training and competence building, and (5) reviewing. Next, we discuss particular case studies of innovative outputs where cross-cutting issues manifest themselves, such as digital scholarly editions, extended publications, databases, visualisations, code and blogs. The overall conclusions provide some general remarks on recognising and evaluating digital practices in the humanities.

Convergence of business, innovation, and sustainability at the tipping point of the sustainable development goals

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a universal framework for addressing pressing global economic, environmental, and social challenges. Central to the SDG agenda is the vital role of business innovation in fostering positive change and promoting the triple bottom line of sustainability: people, planet, and prosperity. Many years have passed following the SDGs’ inception, yet the engagement of business innovation scholarship with the SDGs remains sparse. Moreover, a comprehensive review examining the convergence of business, innovation, and sustainability through the lens of the SDGs is notably absent, constraining insights into present advancements and prospective trajectories. In this regard, this study adopts the SDGs as a lens to investigate the contribution of business innovation to sustainable development challenges and its impact on the SDG agenda. To do so, this study conducts a systematic literature review, incorporating a bibliometric analysis of articles published in top-tier business journals, to offer an integrated overview of current trends in business, innovation, and sustainability research through the lens of the SDGs. In addition, this study performs a content analysis to consolidate and synthesize relevant research in this space, resulting in a multi-dimensional framework that illustrates the intricate, dynamic interplay between the drivers, dimensions, and impacts of business innovation on sustainability and their relationship with the SDGs. In doing so, this study accentuates extant gaps, delineates profound implications, and proposes meaningful directions to advance the understanding of the intersection between business, innovation, and sustainability in the context of the SDGs.

Which managerial reforms facilitate public sector innovation?

AbstractA key question of public sector innovation (PSI) scholarship is: which factors influence innovation? This paper focuses on managerial practices as drivers of PSI and addresses two research questions. First, how have the main types of managerial reforms—pertaining to marketization, results‐orientation, and collaboration—influenced PSI? Second, how have different features of public sector reform strategies influenced PSI? Using survey data from 19 European countries, we show that reforms focusing on collaboration and results‐orientation facilitate PSI, while marketization‐type reforms have no significant impact. Our study indicates that reforms initiated by public administration (rather than politicians) are more conducive to PSI. We also show that reforms that are crisis‐driven and reforms oriented toward cost cutting have negative impacts on PSI. Overall, our findings demonstrate that New Public Governance‐type reforms exert more positive influence on PSI than NPM‐type reforms.

Distinguishing digitization and digitalization: A systematic review and conceptual framework

AbstractWith increasing interest in how digital technology impacts innovation, the constructs “digitization” and “digitalization” have become popular. However, different conceptualizations have emerged resulting in conceptual overlap and little definitional consensus. To understand how these two constructs have been used within innovation management, we systematically review both constructs and identify 26 different definitions used for both, underscoring the need for greater precision. Building from our systematic review, we synthesize and integrate these findings to derive clear and parsimonious definitions of digitization and digitalization and propose a conceptual framework that systematically links both constructs with existing innovation scholarship. We then discuss the implications of our framework on theories of the process of innovation and digital transformation. We recommend future research into digital design principles, digital product life cycle, knowledge accumulation, generativity, and the feedback dynamics within our framework. We also provide practitioner implications and limitations.