Innovation in pandemics: a netnographic approach to the sharing economy contributions

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Belezas ◽  
Ana Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Developed Country ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Decentralized Decision Making ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Innovation Processes

Purpose Pandemics are a serious challenge for humanity, as their social and economic impacts can be tremendous. This study aims to understand how innovation based in the sharing economy (SE) business models can contribute to overcoming the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Following a netnographic approach, the authors studied the computer-mediated social interactions of internet-based virtual innovation communities. Findings This study found that the SE business models contribute to overcome the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic by redistributing idle resources to lessen the impacts of confinement. This was achieved through process innovations and an innovative use of the network, which enabled fast-open and decentralized innovation processes, and quick implementation of innovations. This innovation process is based on a decentralized decision-making approach, clear rules, informal relationship among community members and open communication channels, as well as in evasive strategies to avoid facing challenges, institutional restrictions and barriers in the adoption of innovations. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to a virtual innovation community of highly specialized and educated experts and nine community projects focused on institutional contexts of a developed country. Future research should focus on the institutional contexts of less specialized communities and developing countries and study other community innovation projects in pandemics to understand the processes of fast-open, decentralized and evasive innovation and the importance of relational capabilities for innovation in digital contexts. Practical implications The findings can guide innovation managers and public policymakers in implementing effective strategies and policies to overcome pandemic challenges using SE business models. This research also provides important insights into the types and processes of innovation in organizations that create solutions to overcome social and business challenges during pandemics. In addition, this study highlights the contributions of netnographic approaches to conducting research on innovation and in pandemic periods when measures of confinement are in place. Originality/value This study uses an innovative framework to map the types of innovation and highlights two different types of innovation processes.

Mapping the sharing economy for sustainability research

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 570-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederik Plewnia ◽  
Edeltraud Guenther
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Service Market ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Professional Managers ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Business

Purpose In order to guide sustainability research on the sharing economy, the purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive framework that captures the wide range of activities and business models that are considered to be part of the sharing economy. Design/methodology/approach Based on a systematic literature review and a content analysis, existing typologies are identified and analyzed for their conceptual intersections. Finally, categorizations from 43 documents are integrated into one framework. Findings Four main dimensions are identified as being used in different contexts to characterize sharing systems and were combined to form one comprehensive typology: shared good or service, market structure, market orientation, and industry sector. Originality/value The proposed typology is able to distinguish sharing activities based on their similarities and differences. Social, economic, and communicational avenues for the term “sharing” are merged into a conceptual foundation of the sharing economy. This enables researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to position their projects in the broad field of sharing. By discussing inherent tensions with regard to sustainability of the sharing economy, the offered categorizations can help to guide future research and policy intervention. Last but not least, professional managers should find valuable ideas for new business models.

scholarly journals Sharing economy: seeing through the fog

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 996-1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Trabucchi ◽  
Laurent Muzellec ◽  
Sébastien Ronteau
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Value Drivers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current State ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
The Right ◽  
New Framework

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to delineate the current state of the art of sharing economy (SE) research and practice. It provides a new framework to help managers and academics to consider this field with the right managerial and theoretical lenses. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature on the SE was conducted, resulting in the analysis of 114 articles in the management literature. This was completed by the empirical investigations of business model and industry of 32 members of three national associations promoting SE: SE UK, Ireland and Denmark. Findings Papers dealing with SE themes focus on consumers’ motivations, impact on the society, market and policy, as well as the revenue model. SE businesses can be differentiated depending on whether their assets are new or re-used and the transaction is permanent or temporary. Based on this matrix, the study reveals four archetypes of SE businesses: “on-demand renters,” “lifecycle extenders,” “seller aggregators” and “ephemeral matchmakers.” Research limitations/implications The paper outlines a significant gap between what is current focus of the academic literature and the reality of SE purposes and businesses. This provides goals for future research. Practical implications The framework and clustering of business model archetypes may help managers and entrepreneurs dealing with SE to better understand the underlying value drivers behind those business models. Originality/value There are some discrepancies between the SE themes emerging from the management literature and the business model diversity of SE companies. This research aims at helping scholars and managers to position themselves in the field.

scholarly journals Opening up innovation processes through contests in the food sector

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1290-1310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Massa ◽  
Stefania Testa
Keyword(s):  
Innovation Process ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Food Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Global Brands ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Global Food

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how an adequate mix of technological, organisational and managerial tools might support Open Innovation (OI) processes achieved by contests in the food sector. Design/methodology/approach The methodology of this paper is exploratory in nature. Data have been gathered about the 140 innovation contests launched by the best global food brands (2013 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands) over the last decade. Findings The research highlights the main changes that have occurred over the last decade, showing that the choice of platform type for contest launches is often neglected or considered as an ancillary element. Indeed, it is a choice that embeds another set of technological, organisational and managerial tools that strongly influence the collaborative behaviour (and the participation itself) of partners throughout the innovation process. Research limitations/implications Companies investigated in this paper consist exclusively of top brands in the sector. Future research should strive to obtain larger samples, develop a set of fine-grained hypotheses, and test them by using appropriate statistical techniques. Originality/value This paper fills an inexplicable gap in academic literature due to the fact that food companies are those that mainly use contests in order to implement OI but they are scarcely researched regarding this issue.

How to harnesses digital technologies for pursuing business model innovation: a longitudinal study in creative industries

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anjar Priyono ◽  
Baziedy Darmawan ◽  
Gunawan Witjaksono
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Business Model Innovation ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Developed Country ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This study aims to investigate how manufacturing firms in the creative industries harness digital technologies to undertake business model innovation. Design/methodology/approach This study used in-depth case studies to examine the complex interplay between digital technologies and business model innovation. A longitudinal approach was selected to capture major events both within the firm and in the business environment. Building on the firm’s archival data, interviews and secondary data that was available to the public, the authors carefully analyzed impactful digital technology events and the firm’s responses to the technological changes that occurred over the period of 2004–2020. Findings The findings suggest that digital technologies alone are not sufficient for business model innovation to be successful; support from sociotechnical factors is also required. Additionally, firms should reinvent a new business model when the existing ones seem to start to diminish. Research limitations/implications In this study one firm was examined as the subject, using a qualitative method. This method allowed us to observe complex interplays among the resources required in business models. Future research can combine qualitative methods with computational case studies, which utilize a large volume of quantitative big data. Practical implications The results of this study suggest that managers must ensure that the resources within and outside organizations are loosely connected and are readily available to be mobilized for supporting business model innovation. To enable this, managers must prepare the required resources in advance. Originality/value The current findings add to a growing body of literature on business model innovation and digital technologies. In particular, this study describes the process of how a traditional firm from a least developed country pursues business model innovation with the support of digital technologies.

Accessing resources for service innovation – the critical role of network relationships

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Rusanen ◽  
Aino Halinen ◽  
Elina Jaakkola
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Resource Access ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Resources ◽  
Different Types

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how companies access resources through network relationships when developing service innovations. The paper identifies the types of resource that companies seek from other actors and examines the nature of relationships and resource access strategies that can be applied to access each type of resource. Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal, multi-case study is conducted in the field of technical business-to-business (b-to-b) services. An abductive research strategy is applied to create a new theoretical understanding of resource access. Findings – Companies seek a range of resources through different types of network relationships for service innovation. Four types of resource access strategies were identified: absorption, acquisition, sharing, and co-creation. The findings show how easily transferable resources can be accessed through weak relationships and low-intensity collaboration. Access to resources that are difficult to transfer, instead, necessitates strong relationships and high-intensity collaboration. Research limitations/implications – The findings are valid for technical b-to-b services, but should also be tested for other kinds of innovations. Future research should also study how actors integrate the resources gained through networks in the innovation process. Practical implications – Managers should note that key resources for service innovation may be accessible through a variety of actors and relationships ranging from formal arrangements to miscellaneous social contacts. To make use of tacit resources such as knowledge, firms need to engage in intensive collaboration. Originality/value – Despite attention paid to network relationships, innovation collaboration, and external resources, previous research has neither linked these issues nor studied their mutual contingencies. This paper provides a theoretical model that characterizes the service innovation resources accessible through different types of relationships and access strategies.

Digital transformation of organizations: what do we know and where to go next?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Jedynak ◽  
Wojciech Czakon ◽  
Aneta Kuźniarska ◽  
Karolina Mania
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Domain

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the development of the digital transformation literature and to the systematic literature review methodology.Design/methodology/approachThe authors run a systematic literature review, followed by a rigorous thematic analysis of both academic and grey literature dataset, in order to develop a conceptual map of organizations' digital transformation. The authors aggregate the concepts and topics identified across the literature to find that they overwhelmingly tackle digital business models. At the same time, the authors identify a major blind spot resulting from ignoring the organization itself as a unit of analysis.FindingsThe findings show that developing a digital theory of the organization or the theory of digitally transformed organization is a major challenge to management researchers. The analysis exposed numerous research gaps that can be helpful for future research directions.Originality/valueDigital transformation research enjoys an increasingly rapid rise to recognition across many academic disciplines and strongly impacts the management domain. adopt the view that published documents reflect the collective understanding of a phenomenon. This paper contributes to filtering the digital transformation literature, clarify complex relation between digital transformations of organizations and identify the key blind points.

Understanding the influence of technological capability and exogenous pressure on business model dynamics: insights from a longitudinal case study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingqin Su ◽  
Shuai Zhang ◽  
Huanhuan Ma
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Technological Capability ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Stream ◽  
Over Time

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to explore how technological capability and exogenous pressure interactively influence business model (BM) dynamics over time in new technology-based ventures.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a longitudinal case study of the BM innovations of a Chinese financial technology venture. The structural approach and temporal bracket are used to analyze and theorize the data.FindingsThe findings indicate that distinct contextual changes impel a firm to refine or abandon existing BMs over time. In different stages, the antecedents interactively influence BM dynamics with three successive patterns, namely pressure dominance, parallel influence and hybrid influence. While both antecedents trigger changes during the initiation and implementation of new BMs, they also serve as the filter and the enabler, respectively, during the ideation and integration of BMs.Research limitations/implicationsThe study inductively develops three propositions regarding the relationship between BM dynamics and its antecedents, which is based on the data collected from one single firm. Future research should test the propositions in other domains and take more cross-level antecedents into consideration.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the nascent research stream of BM dynamics by offering in-depth insights into the interaction of internal and external antecedents and by linking the differentiated roles of antecedents to the BM innovation process. The research offers some practical implications for new technology-based ventures seeking to develop BMs in a fast-changing environment.

Emerging trends in digital transformation: a bibliometric analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raghu Nandan Chawla ◽  
Praveen Goyal
Keyword(s):  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Citation Network ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Intellectual Structure ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Areas

PurposeUbiquitous digital technologies are driving organisations to embrace non-traditional digitally transformed business models incessantly. Heterogeneous literature contributions have resulted in a spur in the research related to business transformation driven by digital technologies in recent years; consequently, the research under the digital transformation (DT), even though becoming a hotspot, remains very fragmented. The authors endeavour to holistically present the literature's intellectual structure under DT as a concept, its evolving journey and the emerging research streams in the business and management domains using the techniques of bibliometric analysis.Design/methodology/approachBy performing bibliometric analysis on 234 research articles published over the last 20 years in the DT domain, retrieved from Thompson Reuters Web of Science TM, this study culls out thorough insights from the citation, co-citation and keyword analysis. Further emerging research streams were evaluated using VOSviewer software.FindingsThe study depicts an overall incremental trend of year-on-year publications, authors' performance, publication journals, associated institutions and research driving countries, along with key insights from co-citation network analysis. Furthermore, the study evaluates four research areas – organisational impacts, applied applications and insights, operational processes and social aspects, comprising eighteen research streams that comprehensively cover-up research under the DT domain.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to the literature of DT by amalgamating the status of the present research, but more importantly, by deriving the research areas and research streams, which can be further expanded by researchers as future research streams.Practical implicationsFor the practitioners, the study aims to act as a ready reckoner repository with practice-oriented literature references to facilitate them building knowledge and taking effective strategic decisions to harness the benefits of DT more proficiently.Originality/valueThis study illustrates the bibliometric structure of the DT literature and presents insights from the growth of the literature year-on-year.

scholarly journals Support for the Development of Technological Innovations at an R&D Organisation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12469
Author(s):  
Beata Poteralska
Keyword(s):  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Research Result ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Original Matrix ◽  
Organisational Capabilities ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Innovation Processes

Effective development of technological innovations requires efficient management at the stages of their generation, realisation, and their implementation. For this aim, concepts such as foresight, technology assessment, and organisational capabilities assessment can be applied; however, so far they have been used mainly individually or sometimes combined but to a very limited extent. Moreover, they are not used comprehensively, but only selectively, e.g., at some stages of the innovation processes. The research problem undertaken in the paper concerns the effectiveness of the integration of these concepts: future research (mainly foresight), technology assessment, and organisational capabilities assessment for the needs of supporting innovation processes. The paper is aimed at presenting an original approach assuming the integration of the aforementioned triad. The proposed approach has been developed individually by the paper’s author on the basis of (1) state of the art analysis comprising both theoretical approaches and practical examples of individual and combined application of the concepts analysed, and (2) the author’s practical experience resulting from research projects conducted collectively. The research result comprises an original matrix approach where the individual concepts of the triad are applied in a way enabling their mutual complementation at all successive stages of the innovation process. The approach proposed comprises modules referring to the succeeding stages of the innovation process, namely generation, realisation and application of technological innovations. The areas of the approach application and possible directions of its further development are presented.

Engagement platforms in the sharing economy

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph F. Breidbach ◽  
Roderick J. Brodie
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Service Ecosystem

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and delineate research directions that guide future empirical studies exploring how engagement platforms facilitate value co-creation and actor engagement in the context of the sharing economy. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt a midrange theorizing approach with service-dominant logic as the integrating meta-theoretical perspective to develop a theoretical framework about service platforms, engagement platforms, and actor engagement in information communication technology (ICT) mediated environments. The authors then contextualize the framework for the sharing economy. Findings The authors introduce 20 unique research questions to guide future studies related to service ecosystems, engagement platforms, and actor engagement practices in the context of the sharing economy. Research limitations/implications The sharing economy is an emerging phenomenon that is driven by the development and proliferation of engagement platforms. The engagement platform concept therefore provides a novel perspective for exploration of how ICT can be utilized to facilitate value co-creation and engagement amongst interdependent economic actors in a service ecosystem. Practical implications The purpose of this paper is to guide future academic research, rather than managerial practice. Future research based on the framework can help guide decision-makers to implement and use engagement platforms more effectively. Originality/value This paper offers new insight into the important intersection of ICT and service research, and guides future studies exploring the role of engagement platforms in the context of the sharing economy.

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