Market Innovation Capability Research Articles

THE MODERATING EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMISM IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INNOVATION CAPABILITY AND PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA

The manufacturing sector is well known for its significance in upholding the economic prosperity of many nations. However, the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product has been consistently falling across the last few years, giving rise to fears of a premature de-industrialization phenomenon in Kenya. A growing research literature posits that the innovation capability can be considered a theoretical answer to the question of how organizations in various industries are able to achieve and sustain superior performance in turbulent environments. However, scholars still lack a complete understanding of the specific innovation capability that sustain superior firm performance over time in the dynamic environment. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effect of environmental dynamism in the relationship between innovation capability and performance of manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study employed the correlational, cross-sectional survey research design. The proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 228 manufacturing firms from a target population of 526 manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The Pearson’s product moment correlation analysis results indicated that product innovation capability, process innovation capability, marketing innovation capability and technological innovation capability had positive and significant relationship with performance of manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The standard multiple regression results showed that product innovation capability, process innovation capability, marketing innovation capability and technological innovation capability had a positive and significant effect on performance of manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The moderated multiple regression results showed that environmental dynamism had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between innovation capability and performance of manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study recommended that it is imperative for the managers to implement innovation capability and strategically manage the environmental dynamism to foster the performance of manufacturing firms. Policy makers should consider initiating policy review to encourage stakeholders to implement innovation capability and strategically manage the environmental dynamism to foster the performance of manufacturing firms. The study pointed to several intriguing paths for future research.

External Knowledge Flows and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’ Innovation Capabilities Enhancement: An Empirical Investigation

This study aimed to identify sources of external knowledge in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Additionally, it aimed to determine how external knowledge flow affects the different types of SMEs’ innovation capabilities (product, process, organizational, and marketing innovation capability). A quantitative approach was adopted to achieve the objectives. A questionnaire survey was used to collect study data from 83 random SME managers/owners in Saudi Arabia. The data were analyzed using regression analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings of the study showed that customers were the main source of external knowledge in SMEs. The results of the regression analysis also demonstrated that external knowledge flow has a significant effect on SMEs’ innovation capabilities. External knowledge explains the changes in SMEs’ products and their process innovation capability. Additionally, external knowledge flow was a significant predictor of SMEs’ organizational innovation capability. The findings of the study provide policymakers and managers with many suggestions for developing innovations in SMEs. Additionally, this study provides a basis for researchers to conduct more future studies related to innovation and knowledge flow in SMEs.

Effects of Innovation Capabilities on Organisational Sustainability: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

The role of businesses in sustainable development gained increasingly more importance, together with the increasing speed of technological advancements, in addition to the economic effects of climate change, pandemics, disasters, and wars. The capabilities of businesses allowing them to adapt to environmental conditions to use their resources and turn them into productive outputs efficiently are considered critical factors in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effects of businesses’ marketing, process, organisational, and product innovation capabilities on corporate sustainability. The data used in the present study, which has an explanatory research design, were collected from managers of 452 SMEs in an emerging economy (Turkey) using the non-random quota sampling method. During the data collection, a survey was carried out on the manufacturing firms operating in Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce, Yalova, and Bolu provinces in a region called TR42 in the Eastern Marmara region, which is an important industrial region in Turkey. During the data analysis, SPSS was used to obtain the descriptive statistics, and AMOS to obtain the inferential statistics. Within this context, covariance-based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was utilised to test organisational sustainability’s causal relationships with variables constituting the innovation capabilities. The results achieved here suggest that marketing, process, corporate, and product innovation capabilities have an effect that increases organisational sustainability. Furthermore, the results indicate that marketing innovation capability had a higher impact on organisational sustainability than other capacities constituting the innovation capability. The present study offers important interpretations and conclusions for businesses which operate in an emerging economy at the level of SME to improve their sustainability objectives in terms of resource, capability, and environmental adaptation.

Market Innovation Capability and Sales Volume of Indigenous Oil and Gas Companies in South-South, Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between market innovation capability and performance of indigenous oil and gas companies in South-South, Nigeria. The study adopted the cross-sectional research survey design. Primary data was generated through structured questionnaire. The population of this study was thirty-three (33) registered and functional indigenous oil and gas companies in South-South, Nigeria. In this study the researcher adopted a census sampling technique to study all the 33 indigenous oil and gas companies in Rivers State because the population was small. However, preliminary field survey revealed that there are at least five (5) employees in each of the indigenous oil and gas companies in Rivers State. The reliability of the instrument was achieved by the use of the Cronbach Alpha coefficient with all the items scoring above 0.70. The hypotheses were tested using the Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Statistics while the partial correlation was used to test the moderating effect of organisational structure. The tests were carried out at a 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between market innovation capability and performance of indigenous oil and gas companies in South-South, Nigeria. Therefore, the study concludes that market innovation enhances the ventures into new markets and support better market shares. The implying that development to new marketing channels is vital in contributing to the performance indigenous oil and gas companies in the South-South, Nigeria. Hence the study recommends that the management of indigenous oil and gas companies should expand the capacity of their digital marketing teams as well as support digitalization of their marketing strategies as this will enhance market innovations. There is need also to invest in marketing innovation strategies including pricing, future customer engagement, product placement and product promotional avenues so as to improve performance in indigenous oil and gas sector. Keywords: Market Innovation Capability, Performance, Sales Volume, Profitability, Growth

Predicting Innovation Capability through Knowledge Management in the Banking Sector

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of knowledge management on innovation capability in the banking sector. Research methodology: Cross-sectional research design was employed in this study as it supports the use of questionnaire for data collection. Fifteen deposit money banks constitute the accessible population. Questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. A sample size of 272 was drawn from the overall population of 920. Overall, 259 staff participated in the study. Demographic characteristics of participants were analysed with frequency distribution while linear regression was used to analyse formulated hypotheses with the aid SPSS. Findings: This study found that knowledge management has significant positive effects on innovation capability. Research limitations: The research limitation is associated with cross-sectional survey and geographical scope. Future studies should employ longitudinal survey that support data collection for a year. Secondly, future studies should be carried out in other countries other than Africa. Practical implications: The implication of the finding is that managers and directors of banks should encourage knowledge management practices in their workplaces as this has proven by this study to improve innovation capability in terms of marketing innovation capability, product innovation capability and process innovation capability. Originality/Value: There is no research that has investigated the effects of knowledge management on innovation capability. Thus, this study provides new insight on promoting innovation capability through knowledge management.

Innovation Capacity Index Assessment of Natural Rubber Latex Based Industry: Comparative Study of Indonesia and Malaysia and Its Implications on the Development of The Industry

The purpose of this study is to compare the natural rubber latex-based industry innovation capacities of two natural rubber producing countries namely Malaysia and Indonesia, and its implications for the improvement of the industry. Using purposive sampling method with the natural rubber industry experts from both countries as the respondents. This study was conducted through several stages, including: 1) determining attributes for each innovation capability dimensions: organization, process, service, product and marketing. These attributes are based on literature review and validated by experts, 2) distribution of questionnaires to experts in Indonesia and Malaysia, 3) Analysis of the innovation capacity index using multidimensional scaling. The Indonesia innovation capacity index is 60.22, while it is 78.80 for Malaysia. This shows that overall, in terms of its ability to innovate the industry in Indonesia is still lagging behind Malaysia. In addition, all attributes for each capability: organizational, processes, services, product/product development and marketing innovation capability, Indonesia is also still lagging behind Malaysia. It only compares the two natural rubber producing countries, namely Indonesia and Malaysia. The implication for Indonesia is the need of government's political commitment, legal direction for innovation, legal certainty, strong institutions, institutional restructuring to facilitate coordination, improvement the quality of human resources and ease of financial access. The research contributes in finding 25 attributes of innovation capabilities. Further, this study also maps the comparative capabilities of Malaysian and Indonesian innovations for each latex-based natural rubber industry innovation capability dimension, and the steps to improve the innovation progress, specifically for Indonesia in order to catch up. Keywords: Innovation capacity, capacity index, Latex based industry, Multi-dimensional scaling and rubber latex DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-11-05 Publication date: April 30 th 2020

Innovation Capability Indicators for Entrepreneurs Developed the Business from Thai University Incubator

This research aimed to study and develop the innovation capability indicators for entrepreneurs who created their businesses from public universities' incubators in Thailand. This study applied the inductive research method using critical analysis; the sample included 202 entrepreneurs' variables related to Confirmatory Factor Analysis to find the model's concordance and empirical data. The entrepreneurs who developed their businesses from incubators of universities in Thailand had the innovation capability for business management through the following factors: the change and management development process at lower costs to achieve more efficient management, the novel/innovative product development process to the market, the perceived product enhancement process through new and modern channels, and the use of contemporary digital convergence for innovation capability construction to further take advantage of business competition. The research results and contributions revealed that the measurement model of innovation capability developed from the three main factors: process innovation capability, product innovation capability, and market innovation capability, leading to value synergistic business creation and directed innovation.

The Influencing Factors of Enterprise Sustainable Innovation: An Empirical Study

Sustainable innovation is the inexhaustible source of development of enterprises. Within fierce market competition, only by depending on continuous innovation can an enterprise exist and develop. By conducting an exploratory factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis, this paper proposes a theoretical model, dividing enterprise sustainable innovation ability into three aspects: knowledge innovation capability, production innovation capability, and market innovation capability, and analyzes the influencing factors respectively. Finally, applying this theoretical model to a practical case, with system dynamics method, the simulation results show that they are consistent with real enterprise facts. Therefore, the framework of determinants of sustainable innovation built in this paper has already been verified theoretically and practically. It not only lays a theoretical foundation for further research, but also provides a clear ground for firms to improve their sustainable innovation.

Innovation index and the innovative capacity of nations

This study is concerned with the development of the innovation capability index to assess innovation efficiency in an industrial innovation system. This paper presents the research results on charting the innovation index of Thailand and discusses the strategies to improve the national innovative capability. Based on the studies on competitiveness factors done by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and World Economic Forum (WEF), the research analyses five levels of innovation capability: (1) organisation innovation capability, (2) process innovation capability, (3) service innovation capability, (4) product innovation capability, and (5) marketing innovation capability to provide overall information of the national innovation capability index. The study on innovation capability in 2007 reveals that Thailand has the innovation capability index of 2.30 (out of four level system) or equals to 57.50%. The study provides ambitious initiatives and strategic implications to promote innovation of the economy.

Charting the innovation index

This study is concerned with the development of the innovation capability index to assess innovation efficiency in an industrial innovation system. This paper presents the research results on charting the innovation index of Thailand and discusses the strategies to improve the national innovative capability. Based on the studies on competitiveness factors done by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and World Economic Forum (WEF), the research analyses five levels of innovation capability: (1) organisation innovation capability, (2) process innovation capability, (3) service innovation capability, (4) product innovation capability and (5) marketing innovation capability to provide overall information of the national innovation capability index. The study on innovation capability in 2007 reveals that Thailand has the innovation capability index of 2.30 (out of four-level system) or equals to 57.50%. The study provides ambitious initiatives and strategic implications to promote innovation of the economy.

Selecting a marketing strategy for private hotels in Taiwan using the analytic hierarchy process

Grounded in the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm to competitive advantage, the current study attempts to identify specific resources and capabilities of small ventures by focusing on private hotels and by doing so develops an evaluation framework of marketing strategy in a service industry within its unique conditions. Given the complexity and difficulty of utilizing allocated specific and limited resources with a marketing strategy toward a competitive advantage for private hotels the purpose of the current study is to employ the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to select a competitive marketing strategy for private hotels. After reviewing theory and research on competitive advantage in general and in the service industry in particular, the resources and capabilities are identified as managerial capabilities, customer-linking capabilities, market innovation capabilities, human resource assets, and reputational assets. Finally, the findings indicate that the differentiation strategy is the best strategy for private hotels. The study emphasizes the importance of allocating specific and limited resources and capabilities to evaluate and select an appropriate marketing strategy so as to capture a sustainable competitive advantage.

Impacto dos recursos da empresa na performance de inovação

A abordagem VBR, visão baseada em recursos da empresa (resource-based view of the fi rm), para desenvolver e explorar os benefícios que os recursos internos podem oferecer às empresas, tem sido um tema de impacto na literatura da área de Administração Estratégica. Tem havido grande interesse no papel que os recursos internos da empresa podem assumir na criação de vantagem competitiva, em especial no seu impacto na performance de inovação. Visando um aprofundamento desse tema, este artigo teve como objetivo principal a avaliação da relação de recursos da empresa com a performance de inovação, com ênfase em recursos como a orientação para o mercado, as capacidades gerenciais, a capacidade de conexão com os clientes, os ativos de recursos humanos e a capacidade de inovação. Para tanto, um modelo teórico foi desenvolvido e testado pela aplicação da técnica de modelagem de equações estruturais, em um estudo que envolveu empresas de diversos setores econômicos do Brasil. Os resultados do estudo expõem alguns caminhos pelos quais os recursos, ativos e habilidades empresariais infl uenciam a performance da inovação nas organizações.