The 'creative factory': an innovation systems model using a systems thinking approach

The author has designed, developed and applied, employing a system dynamics approach, a new innovation system concept - the Creative Factory - in order to communicate innovation theory to the different actors in the system using a common perspective and to reveal the complexity of innovation systems. Furthermore, the model aims to create a dynamic framework that can be used to analyse and assess the innovation activity of a firm against best practice and to illustrate, through simulation, the short and long-term influences of managers' decisions or external factors on innovation outcomes and between the different factors in the system. The concept has at its centre the firm's knowledge creation, the new product design and development process and the competencies that separate successes from failures. These core elements are affected by other business activities of the firm such as the corporate strategy, the risk taking policy and the organisational structure. Additionally, it is influenced by the National Innovation Environment within which the firm operates. The creative factory model has been used in this project as an assessment tool in three different firms. Then, action-scenarios are simulated, which demonstrate how to improve and control the innovation activity of these three firms. Additionally, the author designed scenarios in order to demonstrate the effects of external influences on the innovation activity of the firms. Studying the results of the creative factory's simulation, the interconnection between the elements of an innovation system is illustrated. The need for capital investment in research in parallel with organisational improvements is shown to be a key factor for the success of the innovation process. The importance of the early stages of the new product design and development process in the overall performance of a firm is demonstrated. Finally, the influence of the national innovation environment on the innovation process and on the related business activities is identified

Corporate Innovation Activism in a Multidivisional Firm: Rationale, Genesis, Evolution

Various streams of foundational management literatures imply that corporate managers can play a role in the management of intra-organizational innovation processes. However, management scholars have largely assumed that corporate managers do not become actively involved in the management of intra-organizational innovation processes occurring within multidivisional firms. This assumption contrasts with the importance given in the management literature to innovation as an enabler of organizational long-term survival. To address this contrast, my dissertation explores why and how corporate managers adopt an active approach to the management of intra-organizational innovation processes in complex multidivisional firms. In the first paper, I map extant knowledge of innovation mechanisms onto an evolutionary multilevel framework. I synthesize uncovered mechanisms into structural, behavioural, and routinized corporate approaches to innovation management. I conclude this paper by proposing a comprehensive research agenda for exploring complex interactions between top-down and bottom-up innovation processes occurring within a multidivisional firm. In the second paper, I propose a mid-range theory of corporate innovation activism elaborating two novel concepts. The corporate innovation synergy concept encapsulates mechanisms available to corporate managers to increase the efficiency of intra-organizational innovation processes. The corporate innovation value-added concept concerns mechanisms available to corporate managers to qualitatively improve intra-organizational innovation processes in ways unavailable at the business unit level. I organize my arguments into a theoretical model and discuss limitations of my theory, offering important opportunities for future research. In the third paper, I explore the genesis of corporate managers’ capability to influence innovation management in a multidivisional firm; I call this the corporate innovation function. I combine proprietary narrative data with archival records to study the development of the corporate innovation function in 20 large multidivisional firms. Based on my observations of 17 corporate innovation processes, I develop a corporate innovation function typology comprised of collaborative, parallel-capability, and sponsorship corporate innovation function models. I link differences across the corporate innovation function configurations to firm-level innovation performance. In the fourth paper, I elaborate on the concept of dynamic corporate innovation capability, which enables a multidivisional firm to continuously discover, evaluate, and monetize innovations that are novel to the firm and the markets in which the firm operates. Exploiting further the proprietary narrative and archival dataset, I first establish the prototypical role of a senior innovation manager and identify four underlying mechanisms that enable the establishment of a dynamic corporate innovation capability: senior innovation manager legitimacy, corporate innovation ambition, corporate innovation processes, and corporate innovation routines. Using a system dynamics approach, I synthesize my findings in a dynamic model, disentangling the complex process of maintaining exploration in an organizational environment biased towards exploitation

Design and radical innovation: a strategic perspective based upon a comparative case study between emergent and traditional industries in Portugal

The survival challenge faced by the Portuguese companies nowadays has promoted Innovation as the main management strategy to be applied. This research reveals the importance and the role of Design as the basic and integrative tool for the success of this strategy, focused on Radical or Breakthrough Innovation. The main contribution of this paper is the proposal of a conceptual model developed from a comparative case study research, made among Portuguese companies from the emergent sectors connected to new technologies and Portuguese companies from the traditional sectors. That work allowed the definition of the Success Critical Factors to consider for the development of radical new products: integrating new technologies (Science Knowledge), market sensibility (Marketing Knowledge), forecasting new needs or user interfaces and disruptive creativity (Design Knowledge)

Common risk factors in the US and UK interest swap markets-evidence from a non-linear vector autoregression approach

This paper produces evidence in support of the existence of common risk factors in the US and UK interest rate swap markets. Using a multivariate smooth transition autoregression (STVAR) framework, we show that the dynamics of the US and UK swap spreads are best described by a regime-switching model. We identify the existence of two distinct regimes in US and UK swap spreads; one characterized by a "flat" term structure of US interest rates and the other characterized by an "upward" slopping US term structure. In addition, we show that there exist significant asymmetries on the impact of the common risk factors on the US and UK swap spreads. Shocks to UK oriented risk factors have a strong effect on the US swap markets during the "flat" slope regime but a very limited effect otherwise. On the other hand, US risk factors have a significant impact on the UK swap markets in both regimes. Despite their added flexibility, the STVAR models do not consistently produce superior forecasts compared to less sophisticated autoregressive (AR) and vector autoregressive (VAR) models

Technology and the economy

Overview of economics of innovatio

Network strategies for the new economy

In this paper we argue that the pace and scale of development in the information and communication technology industries (ICT) has had and continues to have major effects on the industry economics and competitive dynamics generally. We maintain that the size of changes in demand and supply conditions is forcing companies to make significant changes in the way they conceive and implement their strategies. We decompose the ICT industries into four levels, technology standards, supply chains, physical platforms, and consumer networks. The nature of these technologies and their cost characteristics coupled with higher degrees of knowledge specialisation is impelling companies to radical revisions of their attitudes towards cooperation and co-evolution with suppliers and customers. Where interdependencies between customers are particularly strong, we anticipate the possibility of winner-takes-all strategies. In these circumstances industry risks become very high and there will be significant consequences for competitive markets