ICT Adoption, Capabilities Development, and Innovation Processes in Argentina

The discussion on innovation and the adoption of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and their impact on economic growth and development have flared up in the past few years. This debate has become increasingly relevant in emerging countries like Argentina, which, in spite of high economic growth rates in the last decade, has been facing the challenge of quality employment creation. This chapter analyzes the impact of the ICT diffusion process in Argentine companies from a firm-level employment, innovation capabilities development, and knowledge management approach. Recent findings support the linkage between different firms’ ICT adoption patterns and the development of innovation capabilities, employment dimensions, and knowledge management practices. These results provide evidence to think and develop new productive and technological policies.

Motives for International Inter-Firm Cooperation on R&D and Innovation

International inter-firm cooperation for technological purposes increased substantially in the last four decades with the emergence of patterns of globalization of R&D and innovation. Motives and firms’ decision-making process to cooperate internationally are considered crucial aspects for successful inter-firm technological collaboration. This chapter reviews and summarizes the principal theoretical perspectives and trends on this issue from 1980 to 2012. Rather than focusing only on the motives of two-firm partnerships, there is a shift in literature in the last decade towards the analysis of how embedded firms are in social networks and divergence of motives related to the influence of multiple stakeholders. Furthermore, research attention paid to motives for technological cooperation is decreasing due, in part, to the decline experimented in manufacturing and R&D areas over the 1990s, the rapid increase in cross-border strategic alliances in business services, and complexities associated with the emergence of mixed modes of innovation.

Knowledge Absorptive Capacity for Technological Innovation Capabilities

This chapter presents the development stages of a theoretical model of Knowledge Absorptive Capacity (KAC) that shows how most, if not all, firms in developing countries initiate, implement, assimilate, improve, and develop external knowledge. The chapter reviews the literature, models, and frameworks related to knowledge absorptive capacity. The chapter utilizes a qualitative content analysis as an explanation method in case study research to validate the proposed model. The chapter then analyzes Korean firms as a case in point to illustrate how Korean firms have built their knowledge absorptive capacity. The model consists of four stages: 1) knowledge initiation, 2) knowledge imitation, 3) knowledge improvement, and finally, 4) knowledge innovation or 4KI. The framework shows four development stages at Korean firms as: 1) entrance of foreign companies into the Korean market and their reluctance to transfer their knowledge and information sharing to Korean firms, initiating its knowledge absorptive capacity, 2) Korean firms started knowledge absorptive capacity by means of imitating knowledge from external (especially foreign firms), 3) it then developed knowledge absorptive capacity by means of improving external knowledge, and finally, 4) capability to create their own knowledge and becoming one of the leading economy in the world which challenges firms from advanced countries in the global market. The chapter also highlights the developmental changes in the electronics industry of Korea. Keeping past experiences in consideration, the authors conclude that this model provides useful implications for developing economies, known as latecomers following the same pattern of KAC.

Impact of Social Media in Service Innovations

Service innovations have become an important source for organisations to gain competitive advantage in today’s increasingly dynamic, complex, and unpredictable business environment. While the concept of technology as a driving force for service innovations has long been recognised, the recent growing popularity in the use of social media has given rise to many concerns by businesses as there is insufficient knowledge and understanding about the usage of social media in the context of service innovations. This research seeks to investigate the impact of social media and the key challenges that impede businesses from leveraging social media in service innovations within the Australian hotel industry. The research adopts the use of a case study methodology that involves 12 in-depth interviews conducted with 6 businesses in the hotel sector. The findings highlight 4 key themes (i.e. behavioural change, online reputation, customer service channel, and monitoring and responding) in which social media has impacted service innovations and also revealed 9 major challenges (i.e. lack of adequate funding, difficult to determine financial gains, lack of human resources, lack of management support, lack of understanding of social media innovation, resistance to change, lack of proven evidences, lack of technological infrastructure and knowledge, and security concerns) that pose potential barriers for businesses to adopt and leverage the use of social media in service innovations.

The Role of Knowledge Sharing on Organisational Innovation

This chapter introduces the framework and causal model of organisational learning, knowledge management, knowledge-sharing behaviour, and organisational innovation. It argues that dimensions of organisational learning, knowledge management, and knowledge-sharing behaviour have mediated positive effect on organisational innovation. Knowledge-sharing behaviour positively mediates the relationships between organisational learning and organisational innovation and between knowledge management and organisational innovation. Organisational learning is positively related to knowledge management. Understanding the theoretical learning is positively beneficial for organisations aiming to increase organisational innovation and achieve business goals.

Methodology to Identify Opportunities for Development-Oriented Quality Innovation

This chapter considers the broader developmental impact of quality innovation as a process that creates novelty that satisfies not only the short-term profit of firms but also the long-term developmental gains of the society at large. Development is associated with the production of an expanding range of more complex products, which ultimately are the result of innovation. In the context of development-oriented quality innovation, the question is how governments and business sector could foster the emergence of more complex products given existing productive capacities and the incentives created by domestic and global demand. This chapter presents a methodology to identify such opportunities for development-oriented quality innovation and illustrate its application in the context of the least developed countries.

Innovation and Competitiveness

While the fostering effect of globalization continues, the traditional perspectives of corporations regarding competition lose their significance as the conventional strategies have started to give way to new approaches in the business world. Many firms have realized the fact that it is fundamentally necessary to revise their competitive strategies to maintain their sustainability. Therefore, “innovation,” one of the emerging strategies of competition, has globally become more and more dominant. However, the debate on the strategic value of innovation is still ambiguous not only in the theoretical framework but also in practice. The main purpose of this chapter is to make clear the theoretically informed definition of “innovation” and express its potential for providing competitive advantage in the financial sector. The chapter discusses some of the main scholarly sources of the issues related to the innovation strategies supported by the cases in the Turkish Banking and Insurance Industries.

Opportunities and Challenges in Socially Inclusive Innovation

This chapter analyzes the opportunities and challenges for modern biotechnology, particularly Genetically Modified (GM) corn, in addressing social inclusion to ensure its equitable outcomes or impacts. It examines the policy environment in which GM corn was introduced and the related socioeconomic concerns. The study reveals that in the Philippines there is no institutionalized mechanism yet to determine if GM corn promotion policies and strategies conform to the social inclusion context of biotechnology. Governance of the GM technology and the interplay of the innovation system intermediaries hindered the full realization and application of social inclusion principles. Interventions to monitor socio-economic impact, knowledge transfer and interaction, and credit support delivery are needed for a more socially inclusive innovation. There should be a continuous interactive learning among various stakeholders to have evidence-based information on the technology.

Innovation and Value Creation in Emerging African Commercial Agriculture

This empirical study investigates the extent to which Ugandan flower exporters are creating value and increasing their profitability through innovation activity. It uses a survey questionnaire and semi-structured in-depth interviews of managers. Primary and secondary data is used to develop financial models to estimate profitability from different combinations of innovations. Evidence shows that lines of business that are associated with the highest profitability in one period change over time, thus confirming the need for and potential benefits to be gained from innovation. It also shows that while most innovations were yielding improved profitability, others recorded lower profitability than existing business lines, an indication of value destruction from such innovations. It further demonstrates that limited progress has been made in penetrating premium export market segments. Additional results show that there is significant disparity in the ability of exporters to create value from innovation activity. The results of this study offer scope for future application of the methodology developed, provide insights on what managers should do in order to obtain the best possible financial returns from innovation activity as well as areas in which public research bodies can help exporters to reduce risks and enhance returns to innovation activity.

Producer Services, Division of Labor, and Innovation in Semi-Industrialized Countries

The chapter contributes to the literature on innovation and producer services by suggesting that the division of labor and the forces that shape it in semi-industrialized countries may limit innovation and the acquisition of new firms’ capabilities. This chapter argues that a better understanding of production systems in semi-industrialized countries can by gained from an examination of producer services. The focus of the chapter is placed on the degree of vertical integration and the linkages that connect producer services with other agents. The chapter has two specific intentions: (1) to characterize the linkages that connect naval workshops with other agents and (2) to describe the characteristics of a group of suppliers of specialized industrial services. The chapter is grounded on a rich empirical base that makes possible a detailed analysis of producer services firms (naval workshops) but also of their main demand (shipyards). One central contribution of the chapter is to show that in semi-industrialized countries a significant proportion of producer services are still integrated in the demanding agents, and this is an obstacle to specialization and the achievement of economies of scale. The chapter is based on interviews and visits to 20 workshops, 26 shipyards, and 14 naval design studios.