“Lean in”: the moderating effect of female ownership on the relationship between human capital and organizational innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanli Fu ◽  
Ruiming Liu ◽  
Jifeng Yang ◽  
Hao Jiao ◽  
Yuke Jin
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Average Educational Level ◽  
Female Ownership

PurposeWith the aim of shedding new light on the characteristics of human capital in its relationship with organizational innovation, this paper develops a novel theoretical and empirical exploration of the characteristics of human capital, both executives' experience and employees' average education level, as well as the moderating effect of female ownership, on two different aspects of organizational innovation.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from the World Bank's China private manufacturing enterprise questionnaire survey. The study employs regression analysis of a logistic model using 1,598 samples, because the dependent variable of an organization's innovation index is a binary variable.FindingsUsing World Bank survey data of Chinese private manufacturing enterprises, the authors find that executives' experience has a significantly positive effect on process innovation. Female ownership strengthens the relationship between executives' experience and process innovation. Moreover, the results indicate that employees' average educational level has a significantly positive effect on product innovation. Female ownership strengthens the relationships between employees' average educational level and organizational innovation including product innovation and process innovation. This study highlights the importance of simultaneously testing the effects of human capital and gender heterogeneity on organizational innovation activities.Originality/valueThis study explores the impact of human capital on organizational innovation activities in the context of the Chinese manufacturing industry. Moreover, organizational innovation activities are divided into two aspects: product innovation and process innovation. This study separately discusses the effect of human capital on these two kinds of innovation in detail. Finally, female ownership is selected as a moderating variable, and it is demonstrated that interactions of female owners with executives' experience and employees' average educational level have a positive impact on increasing different kinds of organizational innovation. The authors identify new boundary conditions for the domain of female research that are sorely lacking in the present literature.

New ventures, product innovation and business intermediaries

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aiqi Wu ◽  
Shengxiao Li ◽  
Huafeng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Business Services ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Innovation Product ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) intermediary ties on new ventures’ product innovation. Product innovation is a critical strategy for new ventures’ survival and growth. However, as a result of smallness and newness, new ventures usually face considerable difficulties in product innovation and require support to help their innovation search and innovation activities. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey of 145 Chinese new ventures is used to test presented hypotheses empirically. Findings – This study finds that the intensity of KIBS intermediary ties has a positive influence on innovation, while the diversity of KIBS intermediary ties has no influence on new ventures’ product innovation. Moreover, the relationship between the intensity of KIBS intermediary ties and new ventures’ product innovation is moderated by the degree of their international venturing and ties with other firms. Originality/value – This study enriches understanding of the important roles of KIBS intermediary ties on new ventures’ product innovation.

Exploring the relationship among human resource flexibility, organizational innovation and adaptability culture

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben-Roy Do ◽  
Pi-Wen Yeh ◽  
Jean Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Human Resource ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Smart Manufacturing ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Human resource (HR) flexibility is a firm-level capability that consists of employee skill flexibility, employee behavior flexibility, and HR practice flexibility. HR flexibility allows organizations to adapt and be responsive to changes in their environments. Findings from this paper indicate that if the organization is highly innovative and has flexible HR policies, then that influences organizational culture, risk-taking and experimentation within a firm. This paper has also revealed that process innovation mediates between adaptability culture and product innovation. It also revealed that managers should emphasize processes to improve efficiency for resource exploitation. The lessons learned from process innovation activities indicated that having a strong knowledge base assists a firm in developing innovative technology such as automation for manufacturing, handling and testing or simply smart manufacturing. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires were sent to employees at 23 Taiwanese companies in high-tech industries, where innovation is the key to their survival, and 293 valid surveys were collected. Structural equation modeling, (SEM) using IBM SPSS Amos, was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results fully support the hypotheses that HR flexibility positively influences adaptability culture and contributes to organizational innovation. Furthermore, it was found that adaptability culture has a direct impact on process innovation and an indirect impact on product innovation through process innovation. Originality/value The critical role of HR flexibility and adaptability culture on organizational innovation in the high-tech sector were highlighted. The importance of HR flexibility is emphasized to provide managerial hints to top managers.

scholarly journals The impact of intellectual capital in organizational innovation: case study at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC)

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanan Ali Almutirat
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Environment ◽  
Human Aspects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational innovation in Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) through a case study at KPC on the employees of the corporation (The study population was 2,180 respondents and the sample size was 335 respondents). Design/methodology/approach The statistical package for social science was used to analyze the data. While trying to explore the relationship between intellectual capital and innovation, the researcher used the descriptive analytical method and the case study methodology using various references, periodicals, internal and external documents and data, in addition to conducting a field study on a sample of employees of KPC, through a questionnaire form containing the axes that reflect the study variables. Findings There is a relative approval between the sample of the research on the existence of a good role for training in the corporation in terms of availability for all employees and the compatibility of training programs with the actual needs of employees, and linking the training paths and career paths for promotions in the corporation. The researcher attributed this to the employees' awareness to the importance of training and its role in raising their performance levels, and the awareness of the corporation to the importance of training and capacity building of the human element. Originality/value The research, in general, demonstrated the importance of human capital as the organization's most valuable assets, especially as it supports creativity and innovation, thus enabling competitiveness. The research stressed that human capital is the most important element in the formation of intellectual capital, which requires decision-makers to support it and give the intellectual and human aspects a strategic content that meets the needs to develop innovation and institutional education and to recruit systems and indicators to measure the performance objectively to achieve the goal of survival of the corporation in a competitive sustainable environment, through providing material and moral potentials that can support the implementation of organizational innovation at various levels.

The relationship between innovation and total quality management and the innovation effects on organizational performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 1474-1492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Godinho Antunes ◽  
Joaquín Texeira Quirós ◽  
Maria do Rosário Fernandes Justino
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Total Quality Management ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between innovation and total quality management (TQM), and also to identify the effects of innovation on organizational performance. This research proposes a conceptual model that intends to study several research hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach The data were obtained through an online questionnaire, sent to small- and medium-sized Portuguese companies, having being conducted the study based on responses received from 287 valid questionnaires, and using a multivariate statistical analysis for statistical development. Findings The findings indicate that companies that adopt strategies of process innovation get improvements in their performance, both operationally and financially, while product innovation only provides improvements in the financial performance of organizations. It was also found that TQM practices encourage the definition of innovation strategies of products and processes. On the other hand, it was found that only companies that adopt innovation strategies of their processes promote the adoption of TQM practices, and there is a statistically significant relationship between product innovation and the implementation of TQM practices. Originality/value This research analyzed the dimensions studied in different aspects. It considered product innovation and process innovation, and with respect to performance, this dimension was analyzed through two different perspectives, namely, financial performance and operational performance. This research also provides a particular contribution to the literature with the analysis of the interdependencies between innovation and TQM in small- and medium-sized Portuguese companies.

The mediating role of product and process innovations on the relationship between knowledge management and operational performance in manufacturing companies in Jordan

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Fathi Al-Sa’di ◽  
Ayman Bahjat Abdallah ◽  
Samer Eid Dahiyat
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Process Innovations ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of knowledge management (KM) on product and process innovations, as well as on operational performance (OP). In addition, the effects of product and process innovations on OP, as well as their mediating effects on the relationship between KM and OP, are also investigated. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire-based survey was designed and used to collect data from 207 manufacturing companies operating in the Jordanian capital Amman. To assess construct validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. To test research hypotheses, the bootstrap re-sampling method was applied using Hayes’s SPSS multiple-mediator PROCESS macro. Findings The results indicate that KM has significant positive effects on product and process innovations, and OP. Process innovation was found to have a significant positive effect on OP, while product innovation was not. Furthermore, only process innovation was found to significantly mediate the KM-OP relationship. Practical implications The findings of this study provide useful insights about the role of KM in facilitating and enhancing product and process innovations, as well as OP in the surveyed manufacturing companies. An important implication concerns the roles of product and process innovations. Manufacturing companies seeking improvements in their OP are recommended to focus on process innovation rather than product innovation. While product innovation may affect other aspects of performance, such as market and financial ones, it was not found to significantly affect OP. Process innovation can also leverage KM’s contribution to manufacturing companies’ OP. Originality/value This is a pioneering study in that it developed an integrated model that depicts the interrelationships among KM, product innovation and process innovation and OP, in a developing country context.

Innovation capability configuration and its influence on the relationship between perceived innovation requirement and organizational performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1316-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Feng Su ◽  
Kuo-Chih Cheng ◽  
Shao-Hsi Chung ◽  
Der-Fa Chen
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Innovation Strategy ◽  
Innovation Capability ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Capacity ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose When the management of an information technology (IT) manufacturing firm perceives a need for innovation due to any threat in the external environment, it will be prompted to use organizational resources to support innovation and improve organizational performance through the implementation of the innovation. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether an IT manufacturing firm’s budget slack, information quality of information system (IS), process innovation and product innovation would interact to collectively form an innovation capacity, which is termed “innovation capability configuration (ICC)”, and whether ICC mediates the relationship between perceived innovation requirement and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach To answer these questions, a structural equation model was built and a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from research and development and production managers of IT manufacturing companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Over-The-Counter markets. Findings The results showed that budget slack, IS information quality, process innovation and product innovation are all significantly related to ICC, in which high-quality information and low level of budget slack are the key factors that underpin the innovation capacity. In addition, ICC has a full mediation effect, that is, perceived innovation requirement positively influences ICC, which, in turn, improves organizational performance. Research limitations/implications Because all items in a questionnaire were answered by a manager, the common method variance might exist in this study. In addition, the effective recovery rate of the questionnaire was not high due to which the non-response bias might occur. Following the research limitations, several future research recommendations are proposed. Practical implications This study offers managerial implications for the development of an IT manufacturing firm’s innovation strategy and structure to smooth the implementation of innovation in the severe environment. Originality/value The study is the first attempt to integrate the four elements clearly illustrating the ICC, which is a more complete innovation strategy, thus contributing to improve the past fragmental studies and clarify some controversial points existing in the extant innovation research.

Innovation activities and the creation of new employment: An empirical assessment of South Korea’s manufacturing industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Jib Kwon ◽  
Eunil Park ◽  
Jay Y. Ohm ◽  
Kyeongsik Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Academic Implications ◽  
Innovation Processes

The study proposes an integrated model to explore the effects of different innovation strategies on the creation of new employment. To verify the model, 532 manufacturing firms in South Korea were investigated. The results indicated that firms’ product innovation strategies had notable positive effects on firms’ creation of new employment, whereas firms’ process innovation strategies were negatively associated with the creation of new employment. Compared with the significant effects of the process innovation and product innovation processes, the activities of both user-centred innovation and organizational innovation were not significantly related to the creation of new employment. On the basis of the statistical results, both practical and academic implications are presented.

Knowledge base, technology gap and technology development speed in technological catch-up: innovation choice for China's knowledge-intensive enterprises (KIEs)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengyi Zhang ◽  
Jun Jin ◽  
Ting Wen ◽  
Zan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Technology Innovation ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Technology Gap ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Catch Up

PurposeWith the fierce competition in a knowledge economy, knowledge-intensive enterprises (KIEs) make technological progress in their catching-up processes through implementing product innovation and process innovation. In this study, the aim is to understand the determinants of enterprise innovation type in China's catch-up environment. Further, this paper intends to deal with two related questions. First, what effect does the internal knowledge base have on KIEs' technology innovation activities? Second, considering the technology gap and technology development speed, what are the different impacts of the knowledge base on the type of technology innovation activities?Design/methodology/approachThis paper collected data from 212 KIEs in China through a two-stage questionnaire survey, combined with statistical data for research. The hypothesis was tested by regression analysis. Specifically, descriptive statistics and regression analysis are introduced to test the hypothetical relationship between the knowledge base and technology innovation. Meanwhile, multiple regression is used to test whether there is any difference in the influence of technology gap and technology development speed on enterprise knowledge base and technology innovation. Finally, the corresponding robustness tests are done.FindingsThis study finds that in a sample of Yangtze River Delta KIEs, firms' knowledge base influences innovation types. Specifically, the knowledge base width (KBW) and knowledge base depth (KBD) positively influence process innovation, and KBD positively affects product innovation. Regarding the effects of catch-up context factors on KIEs’ innovation choice, a wide technology gap tends to positively influence product innovation in industries with high levels of KBW. Moreover, when technology development speed is high, its potential positive influence on process innovation will be more significant for industries with deeper knowledge bases.Originality/valueThis paper fills the research gap that existing studies ignore the relationship between types of technology innovation and knowledge base dimensions, especially for KIEs. First, this paper deepens the understanding of the impact mechanism of KIEs' existing knowledge base on innovation activities; the unique use of resources by enterprises is the basis of enterprises' competitive advantage and will become enterprises' competitive advantage. Second, this study indicates that against different backdrops of technology gap and technology development speed, enterprises with different knowledge bases will adopt different types of technology innovation activities. Third, this paper shows that a wider technology gap provides broader innovation space, so the technology gap plays a pulling role in KBW and product innovation, thus pushing forward enterprises' technological catch-up.

scholarly journals Market knowledge impacts on product and process innovation: Evidence from travel agencies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan-Yang Chen ◽  
Levent Altinay ◽  
Po-Yuan Chen ◽  
You-De Dai
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Market Knowledge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Travel Agencies ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Knowledge Depth ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the attributes of market knowledge (depth/breadth) and particular types of (process/product) innovation. The mediating mechanism of ambidextrous (exploratory/exploitative) capabilities is also investigated. Design/methodology/approach Data from 153 travel agencies from two phases of data collection in Taiwan were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method. Findings Market knowledge depth directly and positively impacts product and process innovation. Market knowledge breadth indirectly and positively impacts product and process innovation. Ambidextrous capabilities affect process and product innovation and mediate the effect of market knowledge breadth on the two innovations. Research limitations/implications This study provides different theoretical views, such as dynamic capability and organizational learning, to supplement the explanation of knowledge-based theory in the relationship between market knowledge and innovation. Practical implications This study encourages firms to accumulate market knowledge depth and breadth and facilitate ambidextrous capabilities for innovation. Originality/value Seldom has research explored the relationships between the attributes of market knowledge and types of innovation simultaneously to extend the input-process-output context. This study has done so and forwards the possibility that ambidextrous capability is critical mechanism.

Determinants of Organizational Innovation

2015 ◽  
pp. 402-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Torres Preto ◽  
Juelma Guerreiro
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Logit Model ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Internal Source ◽  
Innovation Product ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this chapter is to examine the determinants of organizational innovation. To study the relationship and influence that the determinants have on organizational innovation the authors use data from CIS 4 for Portugal. The results of the logit model indicate that firm size, geographic scope, patents, process innovation, product innovation, R&D, internal source, market source and institutional source positively affect the propensity to introduce organizational innovation. Furthermore, the services are more likely to introduce organizational innovation than manufacturing firms. The results also support the argument that organizational innovation expands the development of product innovation and process innovation, promotes the increase of productivity and economic growth, and is a driver of competitive advantage.

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