Product Innovation Activities Research Articles

Locus of control, environment, and small-medium business performance in pilgrimage tourism: The mediating role of product innovation

Small and medium businesses in pilgrimage tourism are one of the most vulnerable sectors in the post-pandemic due to product innovation and business activities. This study aims to investigate the impact of locus of control and environment on business performance, as well as to examine the role of product innovation. The data of this research were retrieved using a self-administered survey from small and medium businesses on Islamic pilgrimage in East Java of Indonesia. Using structural equation modeling, the findings indicate that locus of control and environment can support product innovation and small-medium business performance. Furthermore, this present research shows that there is a robust link between product innovation and performance. This research also reveals that product innovation partially mediates the link between locus of control and business performance, as well as the environment and small-medium business performance in pilgrimage tourism. These findings raise the need for small and medium enterprises to take the initiative for product innovations to escalate business performance.

INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO DESIGN-LED INNOVATION FOR ECO-FRIENDLY CUSTOMER-CENTRIC CLOTHING ENTREPRENEURS

Purpose: This article demonstrates how collaboration in a PAR and R&D research project can be facilitated by a design-led innovation process that juxtaposes design and scientific approaches.
 
 Theoretical Framework: The work was theoretically grounded in an interdisciplinary methodology and customer-centric approaches. Researchers adopted a "principles-driven" strategy as a primary guiding principle.
 
 Design/Method/Approach: This study utilized participatory action research (PAR) as a research methodology, emphasizing the importance of collaborations between stakeholders and the research team. The study methodology encompassed on-site visits, SWOT analysis, focus groups, and questionnaire surveys. The data obtained from all of the previously described instruments was subjected to qualitative analysis using triangulation.
 
 Findings: The study demonstrated that this approach significantly enhanced the innovation of new products and the establishment of brands by local businesses. The remaining fabric key rings of the stakeholders had an impact on the most recent clothing collection. The development of new products involved the integration of identity, traditional knowledge, and creativity with modern technology, utilizing local resources from the community for innovative transformation and business product development. By adhering to experts' recommendations, stakeholders can enhance the value of their products by demonstrating a preference for environmentally conscious, culturally significant, and artistically innovative products to the target market. The introduction of the new clothing product range received positive feedback from business owners and entrepreneurs, with an average rating of 4.71. Additionally, the annual sales value increased by 36.3%. PAR R&D facilitated the improvement of stakeholders.
 
 Research, Practical, and Social Implications: Creating eco-friendly apparel from fabric scraps will contribute to sustainability. Obtaining this level of sustainability requires collaboration across disciplines and design-driven innovation. In addition, this study demonstrates how a dynamic interdisciplinary innovation strategy can be effective for generating new product concepts, obtaining consumer feedback, and fostering collaboration and learning across disciplines. Lastly, this study provides other researchers and the local industry with actionable opportunity areas and design imperatives for their sustainability-based product innovation activities.
 
 Originality/Value: This study is the first to apply theoretical concepts to practical situations in a specific rural area to assist local community entrepreneurs lacking resources for research and development in improving their performance and outcomes, with a focus on creating product concepts that reflect the local cultural identity and incorporate innovative design principles.

The Role of Environmental Management Accounting in Economic Development through Corporate Product and Process Innovation in East Java Indonesia

Aims: This research aims to examine the influence of environmental management accounting on economic development through innovation
 Study Design: This research hypothesis testing was carried out using the Partial Least Square (PLS) approach.
 Place of Study: The sample data for this research was obtained from 150 respondents. The respondents in this research sample were accounting managers of manufacturing companies in East Java.
 Methodology: This research method is quantitative. This research will test the influence of the relationship between variables, namely the independent variable consisting of environmental management accounting as the independent variable (X1). The product innovation variable (Z1) and the process innovation variable (Z2) are mediating variables, and economic development (Y) is the dependent variable.
 Results: The result of the test shows that Environmental management accounting (EMA) is proven to have a positive and significant influence on Economic development, with a t value > t table (5.526 > 1.975) and a path coefficient of 0.000. The product innovation is also able to strongly mediate the relationship between environmental management accounting (EMA) and economic development, this finding is supported by the value of t count > t table (2.710 > 1.975) and a path coefficient of 0.000. The latest test results also prove that process innovation is also able to strengthen the relationship between Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) variables and economic development.
 Conclusion: Overall, the results of this study support the dimensions of management accounting environment (AML) can increase economic development even though companies carry out product innovation and process innovation activities. This research provides a perspective on possible strategies companies to achieve more effective environmental management accounting and supports company goals related to product innovation and company process innovation.

Proposed Marketing Experiences Throughout The Integration Program Of Saudagar Laweyan To Increase Purchase Intentions

This research explores the marketing strategies and customer behavior within Saudagar Laweyan, a prominent F&B business in Surakarta, Indonesia. Despite its long-standing reputation and diverse menu offerings, Saudagar Laweyan has experienced declining sales, primarily due to changing customer behaviors and increased competition. The study focuses on understanding customer satisfaction and purchase intentions in relation to the restaurant’s servicescape quality, product innovation, and promotional activities. Qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews with the managing director and surveys among customers, are employed to investigate these aspects. The research aims to determine the most effective marketing strategies to enhance customer purchase intentions and improve Saudagar Laweyan's overall performance in the competitive F&B sector.

Using Fractal Enterprise Modeling in Strategic Analysis with Focus on Intangibles: Empirical Study in Product Innovation

This article presents a new meta-modeling approach for intangible resources. The method combines Enterprise Modeling (EM) and the resource value innovation model from the knowledge management (KM) field. In particular, fractal enterprise modeling (FEM) language has been used for constructing the intangible resources’ level of development. The practical application of the proposed method deploys a real case example in the strategic analysis of the organizational change within the product innovation activities. The results imply that the proposed method has a good potential to incorporate the intangibles into EM. First, it has been possible to represent the intangible resources’ level of development. Second, the FEM models produced in the study have been useful in the analysis of how tacit knowledge is acquired and appropriated within the organization’s strategic capability building. The study resulted in producing modeling and analyzing patterns that can be reused in similar situations. The research followed the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology.

Key Aspects of Product Innovations: Theoretical Knowledge and Research Study

Purpose: The main purpose of the paper is to investigate and establish an understanding of the key aspects of product innovations, which present an important side of the product innovation theory. The paper also aims to validate the literature knowledge by conducting and presenting the results of a primary study.
 
 Theoretical framework: The theoretical knowledge provides the necessary secondary data that helps researchers to build specific empirical indicators, which the paper puts to test by conducting a primary research study.
 
 Design/methodology/approach: As a first step, the paper uses exploratory research, which is a methodology approach that investigates and gives a deep understanding of the research topic. The method used is “literature review”, which helps researchers to analyse existing data from a variety of literature sources relevant to the aspect of product innovations. Next, the paper uses descriptive research, which involves the collection of quantitative data through a survey method. The research study is conducted in February 2023, among 18 software companies in Bulgaria with product innovation activities in the 3-year-period under review (2020 – 2022).
 
 Findings: The paper identifies the key aspects of product innovations, outlines specific empirical indicators and confirms the essential role of the defined key aspects for the development of product innovations in the software industry.
 
 Research, Practical & Social implications: The paper brings useful knowledge base for developing future research studies focused on product innovations.
 
 Originality/value: The paper provides an original and a new direction of researching the term of product innovations.

Implications of selling format on product innovation in platform supply chains under asymmetric information

This paper studies the implications of selling format in a platform supply chain where a manufacturer implements product innovation activities and has private information about its innovation effectiveness. Two widely adopted formats are considered: reselling and agency selling, regarding the platform acting as an online reseller or marketplace, respectively. A theoretical model is developed to explore innovation and pricing decisions. In information asymmetry, the manufacturer may signal its effectiveness to the platform in the reselling format. Whether a separating or pooling equilibrium is achieved depends on the signaling cost resulting from the downward distortion of wholesale price and innovation decisions. Our findings reveal that in separating equilibrium innovation may be fully abandoned under certain conditions. In the agency selling format, information asymmetry cannot affect the decision-making. Moreover, a relatively low commission fee leads to a higher innovation level in the agency selling than in the reselling format, and a medium fee yields a win–win outcome in the agency selling for chain members. Comparison of supply chain efficiency shows that only when the commission rate and innovation effectiveness are high enough will the agency selling format be less efficient than the reselling format.

Key Aspects of Product Innovations: Theoretical Knowledge and Research Study

Purpose: The main purpose of the paper is to investigate and establish an understanding of the key aspects of product innovations, which present an important side of the product innovation theory. The paper also aims to validate the literature knowledge by conducting and presenting the results of a primary study. Theoretical framework: The theoretical knowledge provides the necessary secondary data that helps researchers to build specific empirical indicators, which the paper puts to test by conducting a primary research study. Design/methodology/approach: As a first step, the paper uses exploratory research, which is a methodology approach that investigates and gives a deep understanding of the research topic. The method used is “literature review”, which helps researchers to analyse existing data from a variety of literature sources relevant to the aspect of product innovations. Next, the paper uses descriptive research, which involves the collection of quantitative data through a survey method. The research study is conducted in February 2023, among 18 software companies in Bulgaria with product innovation activities in the 3-year-period under review (2020 – 2022). Findings: The paper identifies the key aspects of product innovations, outlines specific empirical indicators and confirms the essential role of the defined key aspects for the development of product innovations in the software industry. Research, Practical & Social implications: The paper brings useful knowledge base for developing future research studies focused on product innovations. Originality/value: The paper provides an original and a new direction of researching the term of product innovations.

ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF SMEs POST COVID-19: THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES

Small and medium enterprises had difficulty coping with the Covid-19 pandemic as very few SMEs have made it through it, particularly in Nigeria. Strategic leadership has been acknowledged as a crucial asset and one of the driving forces of success among SMEs. This study examined the impact of strategic leadership on the performance of SMEs in Lagos, Nigeria, adopting a mixed-method approach. A total of 400 complete responses from SME managers were analyzed. While simple regression was applied for the analysis of the returned copies of the questionnaire, the qualitative interview results were obtained through thematic analysis. The results indicate that innovation capabilities significantly impact organizational performance. Hence, the study recommends that focusing on innovative capability of strategic leadership such as new product development, innovation activities, marketing intelligence, value creation and new ideas with radical changes are germane for enhancing performance.

ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF SMEs POST COVID-19: THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES

Small and medium enterprises had difficulty coping with the Covid-19 pandemic as very few SMEs have made it through it, particularly in Nigeria. Strategic leadership has been acknowledged as a crucial asset and one of the driving forces of success among SMEs. This study examined the impact of strategic leadership on the performance of SMEs in Lagos, Nigeria, adopting a mixed-method approach. A total of 400 complete responses from SME managers were analyzed. While simple regression was applied for the analysis of the returned copies of the questionnaire, the qualitative interview results were obtained through thematic analysis. The results indicate that innovation capabilities significantly impact organizational performance. Hence, the study recommends that focusing on innovative capability of strategic leadership such as new product development, innovation activities, marketing intelligence, value creation and new ideas with radical changes are germane for enhancing performance.

A conceptual appraisal towards the contextualization of product and process innovation in clothing manufacturing

Purpose This study aims to address the aspects of product and process innovation strategies and their determining factors to understand their characteristics in clothing manufacturing and contribution for a successful and competitive clothing industry. Design/methodology/approach This general review is based on literature data of previous studies on innovation that transcend and cover the aspects of innovation applicable in the clothing industry. Although the scope of discussion is theoretically broad, it focusses on the context of innovation strategies in clothing manufacturing and the determinant factors indicating the acquisition and implementation of product and process-related innovation activities, simultaneously exploring and linking their implications for adopting, managing and integrating enterprise activities to the values of desired innovation novel models. Findings Based on theoretical background and pragmatic generalizations, product and process innovation strategies in clothing manufacturing firms tend to incline more towards computer-integrated technologies and concepts meant to promote product development, process optimization and organizational integration. Industry, technological and R&D factors tend to significantly determine innovation capability of a clothing firm. Originality/value This review generates integrated conceptual frameworks for product and process innovation strategies applicable in clothing firms and their determinant factors as prelude to empirical validation.

A hidden source of innovation? Revisiting the impact of initial vocational training on technological innovation

ABSTRACT While an increasing number of studies postulate that vocational education and training (VET) activities have a positive impact on the innovative capacity of training companies, empirical evidence on the topic remains contradictory. This study exploits establishment data from a representative survey of German companies to estimate the relationship between firms’ participation in initial VET and their innovation outcomes. Our results show that the direct effects of initial VET on technological innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are on average quite weak. If at all, a training firm’s initial VET activities are associated with product innovation activities and not with process innovation. Larger effects can only be observed in case of microenterprises with fewer than ten employees. In these firms, initial VET is associated with a higher probability of (local) new-to-market product innovation if it is accompanied by changes in organisational processes that support individual learning and knowledge creation. We conclude from this finding that the knowledge diffusion function of the VET system primarily holds relevance for the smallest of the training companies and that initial VET is only positively related to technological innovation when it goes along with organisational learning in the training company.

A dynamic analysis of a monopolist's product and process innovation with nonlinear demand and expected quality effects

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic control problems of a firm's product innovation (quality-improving) and process innovation (cost-reducing) with expected quality (reference quality) effects under nonlinear demand in a monopoly market. Our work significant features are: (i) a monopolist dealing with customer behavior in the spirit of behavioral economics determines the product quality, and carries out product and process innovation activities over time; (ii) the consumers' demand structure depends on product quality, expected quality and price in a separable multiplicative way between state variables and control variable. Our main results show (i) under monopolist decision-making and social planner adjustment, the stability of the system depends on the discount rate and consumers' memory parameter; (ii) the effort rate of process innovation is increasing with the expected quality, while the effort rate of product innovation is increasing with the memory parameter in the neighborhood of the steady-state shadow price of expected quality; (iii) as the memory parameter increases, the steady-state effort of process innovation is greater than that of product innovation; (iv) although the price is still determined by the monopolist under social planner adjustment, the price as well as both the efforts of product and process innovation under the social planner adjustment are always higher than that under the monopolist decision-making.</p>

Product Innovation and Design Strategies for 5G Technology in China’s Home Appliance Companies

With the continuous evolution of mobile communication systems, 5G technology has become a key driver for a smart home appliance ecosystem. Fifth-generation technology may create opportunities and threats for the home appliance industry in the stock market, and so companies that do not actively engage in product innovation activities will eventually be eliminated from the market because their products are not on trend. This study investigates Chinese household appliance industry firms to identify their innovation strategies, applied to cope with global competition and gain a competitive advantage, and explores the correlation and operation mode between innovation strategies and design strategies. For this study, we administered a questionnaire to analyze three innovation clusters for Chinese household appliance firms. Interviews were conducted to further understand the design strategies and priorities of Chinese home appliance companies in response to 5G technology, to explore the relationship between innovation strategies and product design strategies, and to provide a reference for the product design strategies of home appliance companies in response to global competition.

Technological Innovation in Colombian Small Firms: A Gender Multi-Group Analysis

Abstract Background: Studies on innovations have been focused on teams, institutions, and organisations without accounting for the role of the executive’s gender. Objectives: This research aims to analyse how small Colombian firms manage technological innovation from the perspective of the gender of executives. Methods/Approach: A quantitative approach and cross-sectional, non-experimental design through Structural Equation Models with PLS-SEM was used. We self-administered a survey randomly to gather data from 145 small firms’ owners or managers in the department of Bogota, Colombia. Results: The results obtained from multi-group analysis evidence that process innovation has a strong and significant positive impact on the innovation of products, and no significant differences were found when comparing the performance of male executives versus female executives. However, descriptive statistics showed that female executives give more importance to the process and product innovation activities, and they demonstrated to manage a better product innovation performance than male executives. Conclusions: The evidence reveals that female executives are more committed to developing new products and choose to acquire new skills or equipment to develop products and processes. It is, therefore, essential to eliminate organisations’ cultural stereotypes and take advantage of women’s potential in management leadership.

Supply chain disruption risk: an unintended consequence of product innovation

Growth is one of the more important strategic priorities for top managers today and product innovation is a necessary strategy for achieving that goal. While product innovation is beneficial and necessary, it also introduces greater complexity and uncertainty in a firm’s operations. We focus in this study on an untested negative consequence of product innovation-induced complexity and uncertainty – namely, increased supply chain disruption risk. Using data from multiple sources that combines product innovation-related data from firm websites, patent services websites and key informant interview data for 164 firms, we empirically show that greater product innovation activity is associated with greater supplier dependence and increased product variety which, in turn, increase the supply chain disruption risk faced by firms. We also examine if a firm’s central position in the supply network mitigates the disruption risk it faces because of greater supplier dependence. Similarly, we examine if external knowledge utilisation mitigates the disruption risk faced by the firm because of greater product variety.

Corporate innovation efficiency in Southeast Asian countries

This study aims to examine how innovative activities influence corporate innovation efficiency in selected Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. The data were collected from the World Bank, and Tobit regression was used. The research results show that product or service innovation activity and process innovation activity have a positive impact on the innovation efficiency of firms. Moreover, the research finds a difference in the effect of innovative activities on corporate innovation efficiency in country-income groups. The paper is of great significance in the current period because countries in Southeast Asia are encouraging businesses to increase innovation to improve their integration and competitiveness.

Block Chain Influences on Manufacturing Collaborative Product Innovation

ABSTRACT This paper aims at investigating influencing factors of block chain on collaborative product innovation (CPI) performance in the manufacturing supply chain. First, according to the application value of block chain in CPI and the CPI characteristics in manufacturing SC, this paper proposes a research model based on the innovation diffusion theory. Second, a set of hypotheses were derived from the research mode and a questionnaire was deployed to collect data in Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Data analysis was performed by using the AMOS modeling method based on a total of 373 valid surveys. Findings show a positive linear chain relationship between block chain, supply chain’s collaborative innovation capability, and supply chain’s CPI performance. Moreover, block chain capability is diffused into CPI capability for indirectly promoting the supply chain’s CPI performance. This study can put forward theoretical guidelines for manufacturing enterprises to grasp the strategic significance of block chain in product innovation activities.

A new computational method for acquiring effect knowledge to support product innovation

Effect provides a scientific principle-level means for product function realization. The unexpected or new application of effects can create high-level innovations enabling products long-term technical advantages and market competitiveness. Acquiring design knowledge is the vital first step of conducting product innovation activities. In order to capture the effect knowledge that can efficiently aid high-level product innovation, this article proposes a new computational method. The method stems from a novel effect knowledge representation considering both functional and technical area features, and utilizes functional-flow terms of Functional Basis and technical area categories of international patent classification (IPC) respectively to standardize the modelling of the two kinds of features. Based on such representation, the method reasonably combines syntactic analysis, WordNet and word vector technologies to extract the desired effect knowledge from IPC text. To evaluate the method, this article first compares the acquired knowledge with those in a comprehensive human-compiled effect database, and then applies the knowledge to aid the innovation design of several mechanical products with different technical backgrounds. Evaluation results and the discussion based on them suggest the feasibility and potential of the proposed method in automatically acquiring well-organized effect knowledge system, as well as in aiding high-level product innovation.

The Impact of Cultural Context on Product Innovation and Firm Performance

Product innovation in different cultural contexts has become more important in the increasingly globalized market, and it is essential to examine how cultural context affects the relationship between product innovation activities and firm performance in the global market. Based on the analysis on more than one thousand manufacturing companies that have been involved in innovative activities in China, this study compares the effects of product innovation strategies and institutional factors on firm performance for international joint ventures and domestic firms in China. The results show that supportive innovation policies, high-level of infrastructure, well-developed local talent market, and large R&D investment all positively affect a firm’s product innovation performance in China’s domestic companies, but a defender innovation strategy is negatively related to their innovation performance. When international joint ventures are considered, only R&D investments and the level of infrastructure are positively related to international joint ventures’ product innovation performance, in part due to high cultural context in China. Implications of the results are then discussed.