Knowledge search, knowledge integration and enterprise breakthrough innovation under the characteristics of innovation ecosystem network: The empirical evidence from enterprises in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

Enterprises acquire heterogeneous knowledge through external knowledge search and adapt to the change of external environment, which is of great significance to enterprise breakthrough innovation. This paper takes the innovation ecosystem as the boundary of the research paradigm. Based on innovation ecosystem theory, knowledge management theory and enterprise innovation theory, this paper constructs a moderated mediation model of the enterprise knowledge search, knowledge integration and breakthrough innovation under the characteristics of innovation ecosystem network. This model is tested on the survey data of 344 technology enterprise and manufacturing industries including R&D departments in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The research results show that: knowledge integration plays part of the intermediary role between knowledge search and enterprise breakthrough innovation; the larger the network scale, the stronger the network connection, the stronger the intermediary role of knowledge integration on the relationship between knowledge search and enterprise breakthrough innovation. The research results reveal the important role of the innovation ecosystem in enterprise breakthrough innovation. At the same time, the research on knowledge search and enterprise breakthrough innovation should consider the network characteristics of innovation ecosystem and the ability of enterprise knowledge integration.

Non-contact elastography methods in mechanobiology: a point of view

In recent decades, mechanobiology has emerged as a novel perspective in the context of basic biomedical research. It is now widely recognized that living cells respond not only to chemical stimuli (for example drugs), but they are also able to decipher mechanical cues, such as the rigidity of the underlying matrix or the presence of shear forces. Probing the viscoelastic properties of cells and their local microenvironment with sub-micrometer resolution is required to study this complex interplay and dig deeper into the mechanobiology of single cells. Current approaches to measure mechanical properties of adherent cells mainly rely on the exploitation of miniaturized indenters, to poke single cells while measuring the corresponding deformation. This method provides a neat implementation of the everyday approach to measure mechanical properties of a material, but it typically results in a very low throughput and invasive experimental protocol, poorly translatable towards three-dimensional living tissues and biological constructs. To overcome the main limitations of nanoindentation experiments, a radical paradigm change is foreseen, adopting next generation contact-less methods to measure mechanical properties of biological samples with sub-cell resolution. Here we briefly introduce the field of single cell mechanical characterization, and we concentrate on a promising high resolution optical elastography technique, Brillouin spectroscopy. This non-contact technique is rapidly emerging as a potential breakthrough innovation in biomechanics, but the application to single cells is still in its infancy.

Research on Supernetwork Equilibrium about Deep Convergence of Enterprise Alliance for Breakthrough Innovation

The realization of breakthrough innovation with high risk and uncertainty has always been the focus of the theory and practice of technological innovation. Based on the supernetwork theory, this paper constructs a supernetwork equilibrium model about deep convergence of enterprise alliance for breakthrough innovation and uses numerical simulation tools to find out the equilibrium conditions for deep convergence of enterprise alliance in different stages of breakthrough innovation. It is not only conducive to understand the process of enterprise alliance’s deep convergence in “Creativity-Research-Production-Sales” but also helpful to understand the roles that deep convergence in enterprise alliance can play in achieving breakthrough innovation. It not only expands the existing research on breakthrough innovation but also provides a scientific reference for the deep convergence of enterprise alliance in practice.

Does Product Semantics Matter in Stimulating Impulse Buying Behavior for Internet Products?

Design-driven innovation has become the source of the third-dimensional innovation driving force behind technology and outside the market, aiming to explore breakthrough innovation in product semantics for Internet products. This research tries to define the concept of product semantics and construct a consumer purchase decision model for Internet products with product semantic perception as the antecedent variable. In addition, how product semantics could stimulate consumers' expected regret and impulse purchase for Internet products is explained. The research finds that product semantic perception significantly affects consumers' expected inaction regret, which promotes their impulse purchase intention for Internet products; and expected inaction regret partially mediates between product semantic perception and impulse purchase intention. Self-control ability of consumers negatively moderates the relationship between their expected inaction regret and impulsive purchase intention for Internet products. Thus, the “non-use function” design of product semantics can effectively meet and lead the spiritual and cultural needs in hedonistic Internet shopping for consumers.

The Evolutionary Nature of Breakthrough Innovation: An Empirical Investigation of Firm Search Strategies

Breakthrough innovation has been an important topic of study for generations of scholars. Previous research in this domain has focused on exploring the way breakthroughs emerge from cumulative combination and recombination of prior technologies and knowledge components across vast numbers of firms and inventors. However, far less understood are the internal firm-level processes that give rise to breakthrough inventions. How do firms search for and select technologies with which to innovate? Could the trajectory of this search process itself play a role in influencing the likelihood that a developed invention will be a breakthrough? We ask these questions in our research. Our analysis examines three decades of innovation histories of over two and a half thousand firms. Longitudinal firm-level data and a novel measure of search (technological focal proximity) enable us to characterize corporate activity at a detailed level and to examine search strategies that led to breakthrough innovations as well as those that did not. Contrary to the established consensus that breakthroughs are associated with explorative search and less impactful inventions emerge through exploitation, our firm-centric approach reveals that breakthroughs develop from a search process that evolves in phases and involves both exploration (initially) and exploitation (subsequently). In the early phases, firms that successfully develop breakthrough inventions explore unfamiliar terrain. However, as the process unfolds, they progressively shift their search strategies to exploitation of accumulated knowledge. Our findings call into question the strong dichotomy between exploration and exploitation that has played such a prominent role in theories about the origins of breakthrough innovation.

An integrated toolchain for the design of aeroacoustic metamaterials: the AERIALIST H2020 project.

The project AERIALIST (AdvancEd aicRaft-noIse-AlLeviation devIceS using meTamaterials), funded within the Breakthrough Innovation topic of the H2020 program, has closed its activity on May 2020. The objective of the project was the disclosure of the potential of metamaterials in developing disruptive devices for the mitigation of aircraft noise, in order to contribute to the identification of the breakthrough technologies targeted at the achievement of the noise reduction targets foreseen by the ACARE Flightpath 2050. Although targeted to low TRL, AERIALIST has been focused on the development of an integrated toolchain capable to address the entire design loop, from the early conception to the numerical and experimental proof of concept, up to the final design and manufacturing. The toolchain was founded onto four pillars: i) the extension of the acoustic metamaterial theory to aeroacoustics; ii) the exploitation of the latest additive manufacturing technologies; iii) the wind-tunnel assessment of the selected concepts; iv) the identification of a development roadmap towards higher TRL. After three years of activity, the project has attained all its objectives. The present paper is a review of the main outcomes of the project, their application potential and relevance to the ACARE objectives.

Exploring new paths to sustainable development

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper’s findings suggest that, given that the goals of incremental innovation and breakthrough innovation differ, pursuing each of these innovation types would require contrasting business strategies and resource use. However, industry insights and evidence from previous research indicates that pursuing incremental and breakthrough innovation in a coordinated way, together with implementing dual innovation development mechanisms, can create a solid base for sustainable development. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.