Radical versus Non-Radical Inventions

This paper looks at the special characteristics of radical inventions. It tries to identify those variables that differentiate radical inventions from non-radical inventions. Since radical inventions are very important for the economy as a whole and for the individual firm performances, understanding what makes radical inventions differ from non-radical inventions is very important. For our research we made use of the EPO (European Patent Office) database on patents. We used the number of forward patent citations per patent to identify radical from non-radical inventions. For our analysis we used the backward patent citations per patent. In order to test if the two groups we are considering are truly different and to see on what factors they differ we made use of discriminant function analysis. Some of our main conclusions are that radical inventions are to a higher degree based on existing knowledge than non-radical inventions. Also the combination of emergent and mature knowledge is more important for radical inventions. A further result that follows from our analysis is that radical inventions are induced by the recombination over more knowledge domains as compared to non-radical inventions. Our research hints also on the importance of alliances and an open innovation system for the development of radical inventions.radical inventions, patents, organizational learning, alliances

Diversification strategies and the emergence of a new industrial value-chain: challenges and opportunities for companies

ABSTRACT: Marine renewable energy technologies (MRET) can contribute to the decarbonization of energy, as well as to the revitalisation of other sectors, but are still an emerging and uncertain area. The development of these technologies entails the construction of a new industrial value chain, requiring the involvement of established firms from a variety of industries. Thus, it is important to understand how established firms can be mobilised to support MRET development, by pursuing diversification strategies. This paper addresses this question by looking at the case of Portuguese firms that expressed willingness to engage with MRET and investigating how they perceive the opportunities for diversification into the new business area, the changes they may need to introduce in their resources and capabilities to exploit those opportunities, and the obstacles they expect to face.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

GENERACIÓN Y TRANSFERENCIA DE CONOCIMIENTO / GENERATION AND TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE

La organización debe propiciar mecanismos que activen la dimensión colectiva del conocimiento, que influyan en la manera en que se diseñan los puestos y los procesos de trabajo, generando una red de relaciones adecuada para la generación y transferencia del conocimiento por toda la organización. La utilización de un modelo les permitirá optimizar sus recursos y capacidades disponibles, lo cual se refleja en el desempeño del trabajador y en el fortalecimiento de la cultura organizacional. El modelo que se propone en este trabajo está concebido con enfoque sistémico y posee 3 etapas que contienen sus procedimientos, técnicas y métodos. La metodología utilizada implica los componentes fundamentales de un Observatorio para la Gestión del Talento Humano, tales como: el direccionamiento estratégico, indicadores de cultura organizacional, formación y competitividad y las bases para diseñar modelos que se sustentan en principios, objetivos, premisas, dimensiones estructurales, elementos y actividades. El modelo se diseña de manera estratégica, con el propósito de preparar y ayudar a las personas para que desarrollen las competencias necesarias que aseguren un buen desempeño personal y laboral.AbstractThe organization should promote mechanisms that trigger the collective dimension of knowledge, which influence how jobs and work processes are designed, creating a network of relations suitable for the generation and transfer of knowledge throughout the organization. Using a model will help optimize their resources and capabilities, which is reflected in the worker's performance and in the strengthening of the organizational culture. The model proposed in this paper is designed with a systemic approach and has 3 stages containing procedures, techniques and methods. The methodology involves the fundamental components of an Observatory for Human Resource Management, such as: strategic management, organizational culture indicators, training and competition and the basis for designing models that are based on principles, objectives, assumptions, structural dimensions elements and activities. The model is strategically designed with the purpose of preparing and helping people to develop the necessary skills to ensure a good work and personal performance

Investigating Managers' Exploration and Exploitation Activities: The Influence of Top-down, Bottom-up, and Horizontal Knowledge Inflows

This paper develops and tests hypotheses on the influence of a manager’s knowledge inflows on this manager’s exploration and exploitation activities. Based on a survey among managers of a leading electronics firm, the findings indicate, as expected, that top-down knowledge inflows of a manager positively relate to the extent to which this manager conducts exploitation activities, while they do not relate to a manager’s exploration activities. Furthermore, as expected, bottom-up and horizontal knowledge inflows of a manager positively relate to this manager’s exploration activities, while they do not relate to a manager’s exploitation activities. We contribute to current literature on exploration and exploitation by focusing on the manager level of analysis, and by adding the importance of knowledge flow configurations to the literature on the impact of organizational factors upon exploration and exploitation.Exploitation;Exploration;Bottom-up;Horizontal;Knowledge inflows;Manager-level;Top-down

Managing Complexity For Creating Breakthrough Inventions: Focusing On Collaboration Teams And Prior Art

Inventing processes are often greatly complex, resulting in the difficulty of creating breakthrough inventions. But the relationship between the complexity of inventing and the creation of breakthrough inventions and ways of dealing with the complexity of inventing have received little research attention. This study focuses on the effect of coupling, one of the causes of complex inventing, on the likelihood of creating breakthrough inventions and suggests two moderating factors: the size of collaboration teams and the oldness of prior art. Based on U.S. granted patents in optical disc technology domains applied during 1997–2001, the empirical results showed the negative effect of coupling on the likelihood of creating breakthrough patents and the weakening moderating effect of the number of inventors involved in generating patents

Literature Review: The Paradox of Social Network Ties in Creating Knowledge

Knowledge creation, as a salient concept in recent literature on business and strategic management, has been examined as one of the most valuable capabilities of firms. As the increasing impact of globalization and high competition challenge the firms to manage knowledge efficiently, social network ties among firms come to agenda. Network ties are beneficial in knowledge creation process since knowledge creation is a social process, in need of coordination and cooperation with partners who possess the knowledge the firm requires. Combination and exchange of knowledge is realized in social networks. The central argument in that context is which ties are more beneficial: Should firms forge strong or weak ties in their interorganizational relations to strengthen their knowledge creation capability is the question that tried to be examined in this paper. According to weak-tie theory, distant and infrequent ties are proper since they provide novel and diverse information from disconnected actors. However, strong-tie theory provides that frequent and long-lasting relationships are more conducive to support knowledge creation since they include trust, reciprocity and willingness to share the resources. The aim of this conceptual paper is to examine the extant literature concerning social networks and knowledge creation to develop a tentative model which presents the conditions affect the decision of utilizing strong or weak ties. Different benefits are embedded in these ties, but the point is to get understand under which conditions a strong or a weak tie generate a better return in knowledge creation process

The impact of organizational context and competences on innovation ambidexterity

International audienceResearch into organization theory contains abundant evidence of the positive effects of ambidexterity on a firm's performance, and of the influence of organizational context on ambidexterity. The present research tests whether organizational context affects innovation ambidexterity. Our results, based on a dataset of 108 large innovative firms, show that firms combining exploration innovation and exploitation innovation should adopt long-term practices that favor risk taking and creativity, and thereby build an organizational context suited to innovation ambidexterity. Competences were found to have a strong moderating effect. These results haveimportant managerial and theoretical implications. In the case of innovation, firms that simultaneously pursue exploitation and exploration activities should carefully consider how they combine competences and organizational context

Implementing organizational ambidexterity using the balanced scorecard in Puebla City's hotel industry, Mexico

This paper investigates the effectiveness of the Ambidextrous Scorecard (ASC) in facilitating the integration of organizational ambidexterity in four-star Puebla City hotels for managing exploitation and exploration activities. It proposes an integrated approach to ambidexterity and introduces the ASC as a tool explicitly targeting hotels’ challenges and opportunities.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU