scholarly journals Utilities: Innovation and Sustainability

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Loredo ◽  
Nuria Lopez-Mielgo ◽  
Gustavo Pineiro-Villaverde ◽  
María García-Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Process Innovations ◽  
Search Processes ◽  
Relevant Role ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Product And Process

Pro-market reforms have disrupted the playing field and strongly affected the innovative behavior of electricity, gas and water utilities. Beyond a significant reduction in sectoral R&D investments, very little is known about how these firms accomplish their innovation strategies in this new scenario. Given this gap in the literature, the first aim of this paper is to identify the internal determinants of both the product and process innovation of utilities in a liberalized environment. Additionally, there is another external force that is also disrupting the specific landscape of utilities: the sustainability challenge. Therefore, the second aim of this paper is establishing whether sustainability-orientation is a driver of innovation in the utilities industries. The empirical study is carried out on a panel of 82 Spanish electricity, gas and water utilities over the period 2005–2012 (Technological Innovation Panel dataset (PITEC)). The main findings are: (i) the acquisition of disembodied knowledge does not play a relevant role for utilities; (ii) non-formal search processes are central to product innovation; (iii) some markets for technology –external R&D and technology embedded in equipment—are determinant factors for process innovation; (iv) sustainability orientation increases the likelihood of generating both, product and process innovations. These firm-level results are novel contributions to the field of utility management.

THE IMPACT OF THE HETEROGENEITY OF EMPLOYEES’ QUALIFICATIONS ON FIRM-LEVEL INNOVATION: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIAN FIRMS

2020 ◽  
pp. 2150011
Author(s):  
STEPHEN KEHINDE MEDASE
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Recursive Bivariate Probit ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Service Sectors ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
The Impact

The capacity to generate knowledge and disseminate it in a firm is considered a primary strategic competence to attaining competitive gain. Knowledge literature reveals how relevant it is to increase interest in recognising and managing knowledge inherent in workforces and other firms’ dynamic capabilities that allow them to benefit from available knowledge within the milieu. In recognising the importance of employees’ baggage of knowledge, this study uses the Nigerian Innovation Survey for two waves, 2008 and 2010 of 1359 repeated observations of firms in the manufacturing and service sectors to examine the interplay of firms’ dynamic capabilities and innovation optimisation. It uses a recursive bivariate probit and a Tobit model for the estimations. Evidence shows that PhD, BSc, and Diploma associate positively and significantly with the ability of the firms to introduce product innovation. On the moderating estimations, there are mixed results regarding the blend of employees’ qualifications, training and internal R&D. Based on this, while the share of the highly educated workforce supports the introduction of product innovation, it does not, however, substantially increase the probability of firm-level innovativeness regarding process innovation. Although the blend of BSc and HND with R&D supports the propensity to introduce process innovation, it results in a decline with Diploma and R&D. The implication of the results offers management some investment choices on the initiation of formal training and the management of internal R&D through employees’ expertise. This study contributes to the existing literature on the relevance of employees’ different degrees being reinforced by training and internal R&D being boosted by employees’ qualifications in supporting the development of product and process innovation.

‘Cookpetition’: Do restaurants coopete to innovate?

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 904-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isidoro Romero ◽  
Igone Porto Gómez ◽  
Jon Mikel Zabala-Iturriagagoitia
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Restaurant Industry ◽  
Process Innovations ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Innovative Behaviour ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Main Determinants

This article studies the influence of ‘coopetition’, that is, cooperation between competitors, on the innovative behaviour of restaurant firms. The analysis is based on data gathered from a representative survey conducted on Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the restaurant industry. A binary logistic regression specification is used to test the core hypotheses in the article. The results confirm that coopetition fosters product innovation in restaurant companies. Coopeting restaurants also introduce more process innovations, although this effect is not found to be statistically significant. However, participation in restaurant chains and commercialization networks is found to stimulate process innovation. Likewise, business owners with intrinsic entrepreneurial motivation favour product innovation in their restaurants. Notwithstanding, investments in ICT and in staff training are observed to be the main determinants of product and process innovation in the restaurant industry.

Technological Innovations and Market Power: A Study of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

2020 ◽  
pp. 097639962094427
Author(s):  
Madan Dhanora ◽  
Ruchi Sharma ◽  
Walter G. Park
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Market Power ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

Technological innovations are positively associated with firms’ market performance. This study aims to examine the impact of product and process innovation on the market power of 168 Indian pharmaceutical firms during 2000–2013. We generate product and process patent stock to capture firm-level innovation activities. Findings of this study suggest that both product and process innovation positively influence firms’ market power. Results also reveal that MNEs enjoy more market power in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Further, this study also highlights that there is a differential impact of firms’ product group on market power. This study concludes that patenting is a positive source of firm performance in the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

PERCEIVED COMPETITION AND INNOVATIVE INTENTIONS IN DUTCH SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (04) ◽  
pp. 687-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEROEN P. J. DE JONG
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Buyer Power ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Competitive Forces

This paper explores the complex relationship between competition and innovation by analyzing survey data of 2,281 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Netherlands. We develop and test hypotheses on the relationships between three dimensions of perceived competition (internal rivalry, supplier power and buyer power) and firms' intentions to engage in product and process innovation. Moreover, we analyze if firms' strategic attention for innovation is a moderating variable. We find that specific innovative intentions relate to different perceptions of competitive forces. Intentions to engage in process innovation correlate with the perceived bargaining power of suppliers, while intended product innovation correlates with perceived buyer power and internal rivalry between incumbent firms in the market — but the correlation with internal rivalry is significant only when firms report no strategic attention for innovation.

scholarly journals Innovation, firm productivity, and export survival: firm-level evidence from ASEAN developing countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Utumporn Jitsutthiphakorn
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Export Market ◽  
Firm Productivity ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Innovation Output ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Innovation Approach

AbstractThis firm-level study investigates the importance of innovation as a determinant of firm productivity and how firm productivity could impact firm export survival. This is the first integration of the innovation approach, productivity approach, and firm survival approach to explore their linkages at the regional level in ASEAN developing countries. Using the panel database from the World Bank Enterprise Survey, which covers six developing countries in ASEAN—the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar—and also covers six selected industries, we construct four equations: innovation inputs, innovation output, firm productivity, and export survival. The four equations’ findings suggest that the technology level of the sector, firm size, and exports are significant factors for R&D expenditure (innovation input). R&D expenditure is a significant driver of a firm’s product and process innovation (innovation output). Increasing firm productivity in the six ASEAN developing countries we considered is driven by process innovation rather than product innovation, and productive firms are more likely to survive in the export market.

Achieving green product and process innovation through green leadership and creative engagement in manufacturing

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saira Begum ◽  
Enjun Xia ◽  
Fayaz Ali ◽  
Usama Awan ◽  
Muhammad Ashfaq
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Creative Process ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Green Product ◽  
Green Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Product And Process

PurposeThe aims of this study were three-fold: to determine the impact of green transformational leadership on creative process engagement, green product innovation and green process innovation; to examine the association of creative process engagement with green product and process innovation and to identify the mediating influence of creative process engagement in the association between green transformational leadership and green process and product innovation.Design/methodology/approachData was collected through a survey questionnaire from 291 middle- and lower-level managers and employees through simple random sampling in four high-tech manufacturing industries situated in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in China. We examined the data through structural equation modeling using partial least squares to test the study hypotheses.FindingsThe findings unveiled that green transformational leadership and creative process engagement positively influence green product innovation and green process innovation. Similarly, green transformational leadership is positively linked with creative process engagement. The findings further revealed that creative process engagement mediates the impact of green transformational leadership on green process and product innovation. Hence, our findings provide strong support for the role of green transformational leadership and creative process engagement in improving green process and product innovation.Research limitations/implicationsOur sample is limited to China and collected from high-tech manufacturing industries.Practical implicationsDrawing on the componential theory of creativity, the authors suggest that organizational leaders, specifically those who practice green transformational leadership, should increase creative process engagement among subordinates, as it is a crucial intangible resource for green process and product innovation.Social implicationsWe suggest that a combination of green transformational leadership and creative process engagement improves green process and product innovation as well as the environmental performance of a business by eliminating all forms of hazardous material and waste.Originality/valueThis work is one of the earliest empirical studies to evaluate the influence of green transformational leadership on fostering green product and process innovation and the mediating impact of creative process engagement on the linkage among green transformational leadership, green product and process innovation within the manufacturing context.

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.

scholarly journals Influences of Organizational Factors on Organizational Capability for Innovation: An empirical Study from Vietnamese Firms

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Collaborative Culture ◽  
Innovation Capability ◽  
Organizational Capability ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Product And Process

Given the key role of organizational factors for improving firm’s innovation capability, the purpose of this study is to explore the level of influence of organizational factors namely transformational leadership (TL), human resource management (HRM) practice and collaborative culture on two aspects of organizational innovation capability namely product and process innovation. The paper has developed a proposal research model and applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test research hypotheses using data collected from 168 participants in 51 Vietnamese firms. The findings of this study confirm the significant impacts of key organizational factors on firm’s capabilities for product and process innovation. Especially, the empirical findings reveal that TL has a greater impact on process innovation. In contrast, collaborative culture has more significant influence on product innovation. The findings of this study have significantly contributed to increasing the insight of the link between key organizational factors and specific aspects of innovation capability. Moreover, it provides a specific and effective pathway for Vietnamese firms to pursuit and foster each specific aspect of organizational capability for innovation. Keywords: Transformational Leadership, HRM Practice, Collaborative Culture, Product Innovation, Process Innovation, Innovation Capability

scholarly journals Mediating Role of Firm R&D in Creating Product and Process Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Norway

Economies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Yee Yee Sein ◽  
Viktor Prokop
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Triple Helix ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Government Funding ◽  
Quadruple Helix ◽  
Product And Process Innovation ◽  
Product And Process

Government funding actively engages in private R&D investment to enhance firm innovation. At the same time, firms are forced to find additional sources of competitive advantage, e.g., through cooperation based on the triple- or quadruple-helix principles. This paper analyses whether government funding and cooperation based on the triple-helix and quadruple-helix principles spur firms’ product and process innovation rather directly or indirectly, taking into account the role of firms R&D. For this purpose, we collect data from the Community Innovation Survey and analyse 5045 Norwegian firms by using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Our results confirm hypotheses that public funding and both triple-helix and quadruple-helix cooperation significantly influence firms’ research and development activities. Surprisingly, on the one hand, we showed that neither public funding nor triple- and quadruple-helix cooperation affect firms’ product innovation directly. Moreover, the results show a negative influence of government funding and triple- and quadruple-helix cooperation on Norwegian firms’ product innovation. On the other hand, process innovation is influenced positively and directly by firms’ cooperation based on the triple- and quadruple-helix principles. The results of our analyses clearly show the key role of firm’s R&D, which has proven to be a mediator of the effects of public funding and triple- and quadruple-helix cooperation on the product and process innovation activities of Norwegian firms.

scholarly journals The role of innovation for leveraging regional development

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
Fábio de Oliveira Paula ◽  
Jorge Ferreira da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Panel Regression ◽  
Industry Studies ◽  
Process Innovations ◽  
Product And Process

Innovation exerts a central influence on the economy in every level: firm, industry, region, country and globally. Academics in business management have extensively explored the importance of the development of innovation for the firm, as well as for the industry. Studies at the regional level, in their turn, are more scarce. The primary goal of this paper is to verify the influence of product and process innovations introduced by the firms in a region on its economic development, considering as regions the states of Brazil. Using least square panel regression, we found that process innovation influences GDP growth positively after five years, corroborating the hypothesis that the effect of innovation is positive and takes some time to be perceived, with process innovation being faster than product innovation.

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