Complementarity in R&D cooperation strategies

This paper assesses the performance effects of simultaneous engagement in R&D cooperation with different partners (competitors, clients, suppliers, and universities and research institutes). We test whether these different types of R&D cooperation are complements in improving productivity. The results suggest that the joint adoption of cooperation strategies could be either beneficial or detrimental to firm performance, depending on firm size and specific strategy combinations. Customer cooperation helps to increase market acceptance and diffusion of product innovations and enhances the impact ofcompetitor and university cooperation. On the other hand, smaller firms also face diseconomies in pursuing multiple R&D cooperation strategies, which may stem from higher costs and complexity of simultaneously managing multiple partnerships with different innovation objectives.management and organization theory ;

The determinants of innovation adoption

Using a sample of 46 000 EU firms from the Community Innovation Survey, this paper analyses the drivers of innovation adoption. In contrast to most empirical studies on innovation diffusion in which a specific technology is analyzed, this study covers several countries and industries in the European Union. Following Van de Ven and Van Praag (1981), Heckman's method is applied in a context of binary endogenous variable to explain the choices made by firms regarding innovation. Distinctions are made between the internal generation of innovation and the adoption of innovation produced by others, as well as between different types of adoption (product vs. process and cooperation-based adoption vs. isolated adoption). The study is focused on the impact of users' features and their cooperation with suppliers on the adoption choices. The results point out that cooperation is a key driver of adoption choices. Usual determinants such as firm size, absorptive capability or exports would foster generation of innovation instead of adoption.Innovation adoption; Innovation diffusion; Community Innovation Survey; Process adoption; Product adoption

Horizontal and vertical networks for innovation in the traditional food sector

The locus of innovation is not the individual firm anymore but increasingly the network in which the firm is embedded. Hence, in this paper innovation is investigated in the broader context of networks and applied to the traditional food sector. Networking refers to a process of identifying and acting on complementary interests with or without formal means of cooperation and plays an important role for the diffusion and adoption of innovations, because they increase the flow of information. Two main types of networks exist. Vertical networks relate to cooperation of partners belonging to the same chain. Meanwhile, horizontal networks refer to coopereation among firms which are primarily competitors. Data were collected during focus groups and in-depths interviews in three European contries: Belgium, Hungary, and Italy. In each country, data are collected from retailers/wholesalers, food manufacturers and suppliers in the beer, hard and half hard cheese, ham, sausage, or white paprika chain. In the investigated countries both vertical and horizontal networks exist. However, the intensity of using the network differs. On the one hand vertical networks are well developed based on quality assurance schemes and traceability, though these networks often face difficulties due to high lack of trust. On the other hand, horizontal networks are well developed when a producer consortium is involved. However, these networks can be inhibited through strong competition. The partners in traditional food networks focus mainly on innovation related to product characteristics such as new size, form and packaging without changing the traditional character of the product. The main barriers for innovation in the traditional food networks are the lack of understanding the benefits of networking activities for innovation, the lack of trust, the lack of knowledge of appropriate methods and skills, and the lack of financial and physical resources. Our study points out that successful SMEs use their networks to overcome lacks of knowledge and information and to create possibilities of joint use of resources

Ways to open innovation: main agents and sources in the Portuguese case

Facing increasing open innovation trends, Portuguese enterprises are considering the related processes and impacts. Thus, this work aims to identify the sectors whose enterprises most engage in open innovation (such as cooperation on this issue) and which sources/agents are most used. This is analyzed by sector and type of innovation as an interesting way of differentiation for better open innovation strategy delineation. Using the data from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS-2012), it first appraises the nature of the innovation process, either cooperative or firm-based, as the starting level of analysis. Then, it differentiates the results by sector illustrating which cooperation sources/agents are most used (scope) and relative intensity of use (scale). This is important to assess levels of openness and related factors. Results show that main innovating sectors in Portugal are of three types: research-based, knowledge-based and service-based. They reveal an increasing focus on knowledge and services, trends that have been leading to more active openness towards innovation. For instance, health and construction are increasing their openness for innovating and internationalizing processes. However, Portuguese innovation is still more firm-based (in-house) than cooperation-based, especially concerning new products' launching. This work and future analyzes around it can contribute to encourage the open innovation strategy in more sectors of the economy as an easy and effective way to cope with rapid trends and changes. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How companies without the benefit of authority create innovation through collaboration

To create new business firms develop and provide systems that are new to the market.\ud However, if a firm wants to achieve this goal but does not possess all required resources\ud and capabilities, it needs cooperation from other organizations. This study focuses\ud on how firms that lack authority to compel such cooperation, gain and foster\ud commitment from other organizations to cooperate. To develop a model that addresses\ud this question two cases of interorganizational innovation from the Dutch construction\ud industry were studied. In both cases an organization set up and coordinated a\ud network of organizations to jointly develop and market a new system. The cases suggest\ud that, in particular, three types of activities of such leading organizations affect\ud other organizations' commitment to cooperate. These include two types of activities\ud that correspond with two extensively researched constructs, champion behavior and\ud supportive leadership, and one type of activity whose influence is more indirect, value\ud proposition management. Overall, both cases can be regarded as examples of innovation\ud and value chain integration, two issues identified as industry deficiencies in various\ud countries

Case study evidence of the extent and nature of foreign subsidiaries' R&D and innovation capability in Hungary

Multinational companies increasingly locate their R&D activities outside their home countries, thus being one of the main contributors to the ongoing process of the internationalisation of R&D. The internationalisation of corporate R&D is gaining momentum and the New Member States of the European Union, including Hungary are increasingly taking part in that process. The present paper analyses three aspects of this topic, first, the characteristics of R&D activities carried out by foreign affiliates in Hungary. Second, what are those locational factors which attract these types of investments to Hungary, distinguishing between production-related and knowledge-seeking R&D and relating locational factors in Hungary to those in the home country. And third, we analyse what the impact of this type of investments on the local economy is, where we also distinguish between production-related and “stand-alone”, knowledge-seeking projects. In the analysis, company case studies were used based on questionnaire-led semi-structured interviews with leading managers of 20 foreign-owned automotive and electronics companies

The innovativeness of the Finnish high technology firms – The role of internal factors, cooperation, and the mobility of labour

Innovation is the driving force of the economy and it is the most important factor to the competitiveness of firms. Firms' capability to innovate, introduce new products to the market and develop new production methods has a significant effect on their success in the domestic and international markets. The role of innovativeness is emphasised particularly in the industries with a high growth rate and rapidly developing technology. This paper investigates the innovativeness of Finnish high technology firms, more precisely their local business units, between 1996 and 2002. Innovativeness of local business units is measured in terms of their ability to introduce both product and process innovations. The role of internal and external factors on the innovativeness of local units is analysed by the means of the probit analysis. An important and novel feature of my paper is that our data provides a unique chance to evaluate the role of two important channels of technological diffusion, R & D cooperation between the firms and institutions and the inter-firm mobility of labour for the innovativeness of high technology establishments. Econometric results reveal that internal factors of local units affect their ability to introduce product and process innovations differently. I find evidence that R & D cooperation, both between firms and between firms and research institutions, can act as a significant catalyst for innovation activity. Moreover, our empirical findings give some evidence that worker inflows, and thereby technology diffusion from other firms, has an effect on the innovativeness of the high technology establishments.

The nature and drivers of food innovation in UK-based SMEs

Innovation has been increasingly important in the development of one company. Nowadays, in the competitive market, both large firms and small enterprises pay much attention to innovation. As innovation is an efficient way to create corporate differentiate and increase competitive force for companies. Specifically in the food sector innovation is at the core of organizational growth. Yet there are few studies examining the nature of innovation in the food sector in the UK. There are different types of innovation be adopted on the base of varied resources companies have. As a result that both incremental and radical innovation, product or process innovation have their typical characteristics together with distinctive requirements of sources. The research investigates the nature of innovation in the food sector in the UK. More specifically it examines product innovation within UK SMEs in the food sector and the drivers for product innovation. There are two perspective of understanding innovation activities. In terms of internal factors, product innovation in a firm is highly linked with R&D intensity, while in an external perspective, consumers’ demand and market changes determine product improvement to a large extent. However, the traditionally ‘market-pull’ or ‘technology-push’ is limited to explain innovation comprehensively. For the level of innovation in a firm, it is not as simple as only linked with R&D and market, but closely related with the dominant orientation, size, and suppliers and positioning of the firm. What’s more, innovation activities are highly dependent on the source of knowledge and information, cooperation and governance structure in a company. Therefore, companies, especially SMEs, should take careful decision on innovation adoption in different situation according to both internal and external factors