Process Innovation Capabilities Research Articles

The complex interplay of firm innovation, internationalization and learning capability in driving firm performance: a configurational analysis

PurposeThis study examines how the complex interplay of innovation, internationalization and learning capability is associated with firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) over a sample of 2,844 manufacturing firms over the period of 2008–2014.FindingsThis study finds a general complementarity between high process innovation, export breadth and high organizational learning capability, and a substitution between R&D and employee training as sources of learning capability. The analyses by firm size suggest that, contrary to SMEs, large firms do not require high export breadth to achieve profitability, which is likely because they enjoy sufficient economies of scale and scope through their strong domestic presence and multiple business units.Research limitations/implicationsThis study examines specific facets of the three constructs, and the effect of firm size. Future research could consider other facets and contextual factors, such as managers' competencies, family firm governance or network memberships, which have potential effects on the relationships studied here.Practical implicationsFirms may benefit from the various interplay effects of strategic factors to improve competitiveness. For example, leveraging the knowledge and resources stemming from their presence in multiple countries may significantly increase the efficiency and efficacy of innovation activities, eventually enhancing firm performance.Originality/valueThis study is the first to employ a large sample to test the complementarity of the three activities in achieving superior profitability. The paper also provides a more nuanced view of these relationships by considering the interplay of different facets of internationalization (export breadth and intensity), innovation (product and process) and learning capability (R&D and employee training).

Customer integration and customer value: contingency roles of innovation capabilities and supply chain network complexity

PurposePrior research assumes that customer integration enhances customer value. However, the mechanisms and conditions under which customer integration contributes to customer value are less understood. This study aims to draw insight from the resource-based view (RBV) to conceptualize customer integration as an input resource that triggers product and process innovation capabilities to enhance customer value. The study further draws on the contingent RBV to examine supply chain network complexity (SCNC) conditions under which customer integration contributes to customer value through product and process innovation capabilities.Design/methodology/approachThis study’s conceptual framework is tested on primary data from 335 firms in Ghana. PROCESS and ordinary least square regression analyses were used to test the study hypotheses. Additional analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling and two-stage least square regression analysis.FindingsThis study finds that, beyond the significant direct positive association between customer integration and customer value, product and process innovation capabilities mediate the association between customer integration and customer value. Evidence further shows that the indirect associations between customer integration and customer value through product and process innovations are strengthened when SCNC increases.Originality/valueThis research validates the presumed relationship between customer integration and customer value and provides theoretical arguments and empirical evidence to demonstrate how process and product innovation capabilities uniquely and in interaction with SCNC transform this relationship.

The Case of Organizational Innovation Capability and Health Information Technology Implementation Success As You Sow, So You Reap?

Organizational innovation capability is defined as the ability to continuously transform knowledge and ideas into new products, processes and systems for the benefit of an organization and its stakeholders. This study examines the relationship between the innovation capability of healthcare organizations and their ability to successfully implement electronic medical records (EMR), a health information technology (HIT) innovation. Data was collected using a cross-sectional survey and structural equation modeling (SEM) method was used to analyze the data. Results demonstrate that organizational product innovation capability positively affects EMR implementation success. A positive relationship also exists between organizational process innovation capability and EMR implementation success. This study is one of the first to empirically validate the relationship between healthcare organization’s innovation capability and HIT innovation implementation success, in the context of EMRs. Implications of the study for the academic and industry practitioner are discussed.

The Case of Organizational Innovation Capability and Health Information Technology Implementation Success

Organizational innovation capability is defined as the ability to continuously transform knowledge and ideas into new products, processes and systems for the benefit of an organization and its stakeholders. This study examines the relationship between the innovation capability of healthcare organizations and their ability to successfully implement electronic medical records (EMR), a health information technology (HIT) innovation. Data was collected using a cross-sectional survey and structural equation modeling (SEM) method was used to analyze the data. Results demonstrate that organizational product innovation capability positively affects EMR implementation success. A positive relationship also exists between organizational process innovation capability and EMR implementation success. This study is one of the first to empirically validate the relationship between healthcare organization’s innovation capability and HIT innovation implementation success, in the context of EMRs. Implications of the study for the academic and industry practitioner are discussed.

The impact of digitalisation vision and information technology on organisations' innovation

PurposeBased on the dynamic capability theory (DCT), this study examines the role of digitalisation vision and the impact of key information technology (IT) strategies, such as IT flexibility, IT integration and IT agility, on organisations' process innovation capability and the subsequent impact these may have on innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachData for this study were collected from 153 public listed organisations in Malaysia. The survey questionnaire method was used to collect the data from the organisations' representatives.FindingsResults showed that it is important for organisation to have a strategic digitalisation vision to improve their process innovation capabilities. IT agility and IT integration also had a significant positive relationship with the process innovation capabilities of the organisations, which in turn had a positive impact on innovation performance.Originality/valueDigital transformation and innovation are crucial for organisations to survive in the era of Industry 4.0. However previous studies have not captured the role of digitalisation vision, strategic IT components and its impact on process innovation capabilities. The current study filled up the gap and examined these relationships. The outcome of this study provides valuable insights for managers to understand the importance of digitalisation and the need to focus on key IT strategies. Such insights can be used to improve organisations' process capability which is critical for innovation and performance.

Innovation capabilities of women enterprise in informal settings

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how women entrepreneurs in informal settings, especially in the fishing sub-sector in rural communities, relate to different dimensions of innovation. Specifically, this paper examines how women entrepreneurs engage in process, managerial and technological innovations. This paper also examines how they fund their business, develop their products across the value chain innovatively and how it influences their business output and welfare.Design/methodology/approachA face-to-face structured interview was administered among 100 women entrepreneurs in the fishing agriculture sub-sector in the Anam community, Anambra East LGA, in Anambra State. The study uses the multiple logistic regression model, descriptive analysis technique and it is quantitative in approach. The research is situated within the Local Innovation Systems and adopts diffusion innovation theory.FindingsThe study established the following: level of education and learning capabilities are significant predictors of process innovation capabilities among women-owned enterprise in informal settings; level of education, years of fishing experience and learning capabilities are significant predictors of technological innovation capabilities among women-owned enterprise in informal settings; and level of education is the only significant predictor of management innovation capabilities among women-owned enterprise in informal settings.Originality/valueThis paper focuses attention on the issue of innovation by women who operate in the informal sector of the fishing sub-sector in the agricultural value chain with attention for their productivity and welfare.

Fostering big data analytics capability through process innovation: Is management innovation the missing link?

Big data is heralded as the next big thing for organizations to gain competitive advantages. New data-driven firms need to control key resources in order to develop the new data-driven capabilities they need. The present paper analyzes the relationships between process innovation capability, management innovation and big data analytics capability, covering aspects related to a better understanding of how firms can obtain benefit from their investments in big data. PLS-SEM models with data from 195 firms are used. The main results suggest that management innovation and process innovation capabilities have an important role in the development of big data analytics capability. Big data analytics capability is much more than just investing in technology, collecting vast amounts of data, and allowing the technology department to experiment with analytics. The outcomes of this study present evidence on how innovative managers who promote innovations in process as well as innovations in different aspects of the organization favor the development of capabilities in big data analytics.

Innovation Capabilities and Small and Medium Enterprises’ Performance: An Exploratory Study

Research underlined that Small and Medium Enterprises' performance is enhanced by different types of innovation capabilities. This research tends to present a comprehensive model to explain the relationship between innovation capabilities and SMEs' financial and operational performance. Specifically, this study tends to achieve three objectives: explores the set of product, process, organizational and marketing innovation capabilities possessed by owners/managers of SMEs and their impact on Chinese manufacturing SMEs' operational and financial performance dimensions, identify the determinants of innovation capabilities, and determine the contextual factors that moderate innovation capabilities and SMEs' performance. This research employed a qualitative research method using in-depth interviews with eight owners/managers of Chinese manufacturing SMEs. Research findings revealed that product and marketing innovation capabilities have a significant impact on SMEs' financial performance while process and organizational innovation capabilities positively influence SMEs' operational performance. The major determinants of innovation capabilities involved availability of sufficient organizational resources, entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge development and external networks. The contextual moderating factors on the relationship between innovation capabilities and SMEs' performance involved internal factors which are: SME size, SMEs' owner/manager work experience, entrepreneurial mindset; and external factors: market dynamism and cooperation strategies. This paper ends by drawing some concluding remarks and proposing future research avenues.

The Government R&D Funding and Management Performance: The Mediating Effect of Technology Innovation

Korea’s small- and medium-sized enterprises are desperate to improve their performance through engaging in technological innovation, due to the fierce competition prevalent in a low growth economic environment. However, most small- and medium-sized enterprises are having difficulty responding to changes in the economic environment due to the challenge of developing their own technologies and their limited resources. The aim of this study is to assess whether government financial support for R&D aimed at small- and medium-sized enterprises has contributed to improvements in their business management performance. The sample of this study was comprised of 105 KOSDAQ-listed small- and medium-sized enterprises with experience in technology development. The empirical analysis was conducted on the basis of the mediating effect measurement method of Baron and Kenny (1986). It was found that company technological innovation capabilities have a positive effect on management performance, and in particular, that the majority of companies that received government financial support for R&D have improved their management performance. Therefore, it is recommended that small- and medium-sized companies take an active part in various government R&D financial support programs and make efforts to strengthen their technological innovation in areas such as their product service and process innovation capabilities.

The Complex Interplay of Firm Innovation, Internationalization, and Learning Capability

This study presents a holistic perspective on how the complex interplay of different facets of innovation, internationalization, and learning capability is associated to firm performance. Academics have traditionally tested one-way cause-effect of one of these key strategic activities on the other, thus employing traditional multivariate methods which are less appropriate to capture the interconnectedness of factors as complex systems. We use a configurational approach, more specifically a qualitative comparative analysis over a sample of 2,844 manufacturing firms over the period 2008–2014, a suitable method to obtain new insights into complexity issues. The results point to a general complementarity between high process innovation, export breadth, and high organizational learning capability, and a substitutability between R&D and employee training as sources of learning capability. The analyses by firm size suggest that, contrary to SMEs, large firms do not require high export breadth to render their innovations profitable, likely because they enjoy adequate economies of scale and scope through their strong domestic presence and multiple business units. The results bring new insights to the importance of temporal concepts in the internationalization literature, and have relevant implications for scholars, managers, and policymakers.

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.

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.

Slack resources and growth performance: The mediating roles of product and process innovation capabilities

ABSTRACTSlack resources are essential to organizations’ capacity to strategize and explore new opportunities. However, due to causal ambiguity and temporal separation, there is no consensus about the specific effects on long-term organizational performance, nor the processes by which the effects manifest themselves. Two forms of slack are reported as having an impact on the performance and competitiveness of firms – low-discretion slack and high-discretion slack. This study examines the varied relations between these two forms of slack and long-term performance – growth, by investigating the mediating effects of technical innovation capabilities. A survey was conducted on 217 Chinese firms, with data analysed using structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses. The empirical results show no relation of low-discretion slack, while high-discretion slack has a significant association with growth performance via both product innovation capability and process innovation capability.

Measuring the Organizational Innovation Capabilities (A case study of SMEs Food Industry in Surabaya-Indonesia)

The presence of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is consider as one of the most important drivers of the economy in Indonesia. The existence of MSMEs can also be the backbone of the community's economy which plays an important role in growing the economy of a region. As happened in East Java Province-Indonesia. MSMEs sector contributes greatly to the economy of East Java. Therefore, the power of small and medium enterprises should not be underestimated. Innovation and development must target MSMEs. Innovation is believed to be an important thing to do in organizations because it can derived organizational success. Specific attributes of Organizational Innovation Capabilities that companies can use to build a company's competitive advantage are: Product Innovation Capabilities and Process Innovation Capabilities. The results of data analysis show that Organizational Innovation Capability is best reflected by Product Innovation Capability, followed by Process Innovation Capability. Future research on different dimension of Organizational Innovation Capability needed to get boarded overview of SMEs Organizational Innovation Capability. Keywords: Organizational Innovation Capability, Product Innovation Capability, Process Innovation Capability DOI : 10.7176/IKM/9-6-05 Publication date :June 30 th 2019

Innovation capabilities for global R&D projects in subsidiaries

PurposeIs the development of local innovation capabilities enough for foreign subsidiaries in emerging markets to be able to integrate into global R&D projects? The authors argue that it is not. The purpose of this paper is to show the central role of R&D capacities when it comes to inserting foreign subsidiaries in emerging markets into global R&D projects.Design/methodology/approachThe study investigated 131 foreign multinational subsidiaries operating in Brazil. For each subsidiary, the authors surveyed two to five directors or C-level executives from innovation, R&D, engineering, product development and projects. the authors used structural equation modeling for analysis.FindingsThe results indicate that product and process innovations alone do not guarantee the insertion of the emerging market subsidiaries into global innovation projects. Such insertion depends on the subsidiary’s accumulation of R&D capacities.Practical implicationsThe results reinforce the central issue of building product and process innovation capabilities as the first step toward a blueprint for global projects. However, the effort is not limited to these initiatives. Product and process innovation efforts need be reverted in headquarters’ eyes in order for subsidiaries to gain R&D center status. To achieve this, subsidiaries must align their technological innovations with multinational corporations’ innovation strategies.Originality/valueIn authors’ view, this study contributes to the literature in three main areas: the evolutionary process of innovation capability in subsidiaries, the reverse innovation debate and the discussion of subsidiaries’ initiatives.

Editorial

In the process of improving the editorial quality of the journal Cuadernos de Administración and the commitment to improve the dissemination and impact of the papers published therein, in 2018 we have made several decisions that we hope will bring about the expected achievements for the benefit of the community in general and for the authors who have been relying on our editorial process.For this issue of the journal, after a double-blind evaluation process, six articles are published: four of them are research papers and two are reflection articles. The first paper is entitled “Incidence of Stakeholders in the social responsibility of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises of Santa Marta”, its orientation to studying the social responsibility in SMEs, and outlines some results on the reflection of the role of stakeholders in this type of companies in the city of Santa Marta, Colombia.The title of the second article in this issue of the journal is “Ethics of Care and Communications in Crisis: Approaching two Southamerican experiences”, which presents the comparative results of two cases on communication strategies in times of crisis and their relationship with ethics. The third paper “The organizations. Justice, trust and retaliatory attitude: a study in a company in the metal-mechanic sector” presents the results of an investigation with quantitative methods from the confirmation of three hypotheses from a survey with data of 188 employees, which examines the relationship of the same with the company in the organizational justice perspective.“Strategic archetypes in Mexican metal-mechanical SMEs: differences in innovation and absorption capacity over their performance”, is the title of the fourth article of this issue, where the authors present the results of a non-transactional non-experimental research of correlational quantitative type, with data from 197 surveys conducted in SMEs in three regions of Mexico, to analyze the explanatory value of innovation and potential absorption capacity and conducted on the performance of the various strategic archetypes in small and medium entrepreneurs in the Mexican metal-mechanical industry.In the fifth article of this issue of the Journal Cuadernos de Administración, the authors present the results of a research study with a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach, where they reflect on the practice of social responsibility in a case study on the Universidad del Valle, in one of its headquarters, for a given period of time. The authors try to make educational institutions aware of their responsibility for the externalities they generate in their environment and their stakeholders. The last article in this issue is entitled “Processes and Organizational Innovation for Small Businesses”, where the authors, through a review of the literature in the areas of process innovation, products and dynamic capabilities of companies, explore innovative processes that take into account and involve greater user collaboration that small companies can exploit and that are aimed at the end user.These are the six articles that make up our 62nd edition, which stems from the call made in 2018, which were selected after a rigorous peer review process. They relate to diverse perspectives framed in Management Sciences, and it is up to you, our readers, to judge the results thereof. The Journal Cuadernos de Administración is not responsible for the content of published articles, it is the authors’, to whom we thank for ctrusting in our editorial process.

A Research on Organizational Capability and Their Strategic Impact on Manufacturing Industry

Organizational capabilities can be viewed as the organizational context in which the organization members work in order to contribute to growth, service or other organizational goals. The research seeks to achieve in-depth understanding of impact of various organization capabilities on firm performance. Quantitative survey method was adopted for research and data was collected from 41 small and medium scale manufacturing organizations of Punjab. This paper explores how R&D capabilities, human resource capabilities, process innovation capabilities, product innovation capabilities and manufacturing capabilities influence the performance of organizations. Descriptive analysis has been derived from the study, followed by regression analysis, pearson correlation analysis, cronbach alpha and analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The findings suggest that there is significant and positive relationship between organization capabilities and firm performance. Firm performance is measure of two variables namely sales performance and financial performance. The results reveal that R&D capabilities and process innovation capabilities play vital role in achieving better sales performance whereas better financial performance can be achieved from process innovation capabilities and product innovation capabilities.

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.

How collaborative innovation networks affect new product performance: Product innovation capability, process innovation capability, and absorptive capacity

The current literature has investigated the direct relationship between collaborative innovation networks and new product performance, but the results are inconsistent. This research aims to explore the role of product and process innovation capabilities as two distinct mechanisms through which collaborative innovation networks improve new product performance. The study also examines the contingent effects of absorptive capacity on the relationship between collaborative innovation networks and the two innovation capability dimensions (i.e. product and process innovation). Survey data from 258 respondents from the Iranian high and medium technology manufacturing industries indicates the need for caution when developing collaborative innovation networks. We found that the effects of collaborative innovation networks on either product or process innovation capability are significant only in the presence of absorptive capacity. This finding suggests that the level of collaboration with different partners can enhance firms' innovation capabilities only if the focal firm's managers have developed the capacity to scan and acquire external knowledge. Our analyses further indicate that in the presence of absorptive capacity, only collaboration with research organizations and competitors have a positive effect on product innovation capability. In the case of process innovation capability, collaboration with research organizations and suppliers are the most important factors.

An empirical study on the link between corporate social responsibility and innovation in environmentally sensitive industries

Managers' perceptions on the evolution of a company's environment can have important implications for strategic decisions on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and innovation, especially in industries which are sensitive to social and environmental issues. This paper follows knowledge-based and stakeholder management perspectives to state that in such industries high levels of environmental dynamism will motivate firms to engage in CSR activities to support proactive innovation strategies for faster development of new technologies. We use a sample of 86 Spanish and Portuguese firms from the renewable energy sector to test a structural equations model of relationships between environmental dynamism, innovation strategy and CSR through a partial least squares (PLS) statistical approach. The results of the study suggest that highly dynamic environments encourage firms to be more innovation proactive, and that this proactivity relates to a high CSR commitment, with process innovation capabilities being preferred as a technological source for firms in this sector.