The relationship between favorable conditions for innovation in technology parks, the innovation produced, and companies’ performance: A framework for an analysis model

Purpose – Innovation is today considered a competitive differential for improving the performance of companies, and technology parks are seen as environments with favorable conditions for such innovation. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for analyzing favorable conditions for innovation in technology parks, the innovations produced and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach – To this end, the authors conducted bibliographic research and indepth interviews with managers of companies based at the Tecnopuc Science and Technology Park, and managers of the park itself, to establish practical support for previous theoretical findings. Findings – As a result, a framework was developed to link the favorable conditions for innovation, and organizational performance. Research limitations/implications – The analysis model proposed here synthesizes the contributions made by several scholars on the theme, allowing for a more detailed and integrated interpretation of the phenomenon, namely, the ways through which the effective development of innovation takes place in companies residing in technology parks and the contribution of innovation to the specific performance of companies. Practical implications – The use of the proposed framework can help direct park managers’ action towards those relationships or activities that prove to be ineffective in achieving desired goals. Originality/value – The use of the proposed model in empirical surveys will allow for better understanding of the phenomenon involving the features of technology parks and their effects on innovation and the performance of companies installed there, considering that such parks allow them to access resources with lower transaction costs

The role of institutions in achieving radical innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how institutions can facilitate or inhibit radical innovation. The authors argue that organizational radical innovation is necessary to maintain a competitive advantage and to evolve in the market place, and institutions are the basis of this innovation. From an innovation and Service Dominant Logic perspective, network ties are proposed to be a determining factor for the achievement of innovation through institutionalization in the University knowledge management context.A conceptual approach is applied to develop and propose a framework for deepening understanding of radical organizational innovation, institutions and network ties. Data were gathered from Link by UMA-ATech, which in the context of the University of Málaga (Spain) is with great success developing a strategy based on fostering innovation. In all, 22 in-depth interviews were conducted with actors in the Link context, together with additional important second–order data analyses (sector analyses, statistics, company websites). Because of the perceived desirability of innovation, public universities have established a model as part of this strategy in order to foster and develop new businesses through technology transfer. Changing institutional arrangements is the basis of innovation. Opening universities to the actors around them, with an interest in exchanging resources through the evolution of network ties towards a less bureaucratic and more collaborative and open University (tertius iungens) is the basis for reaching organizational radical innovation in the university context to develop the provider-driven radical innovation network structure via the ‘University Living Lab’ theoretical model. A conceptual understanding is used in combination with an empirical approach, in which one case study and 22 organizations are considered in the context of Link-by-UMA ATech, at the University of Málaga

Stability vs. Change in Catholic Schools

This study was an investigation of innovative practices based upon organizational learning and the life cycle in Catholic elementary and high schools. Limited research exists in the role that these factors play in Catholic school sustainability. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of organizational learning, as measured by the Organizational Learning Scale, and life cycle, as measured by Organizational Life Cycle 5-Scale on organizational innovation, as measured by the Organizational Innovation Scale. Organizational design framework, life cycle theory, and transtheoretical model of behavior provided the theoretical framework to investigate the relationship between organizational learning, life cycle stage, and innovation. In this nonexperimental quantitative study, multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether a correlation existed among organizational learning, life cycle, and innovation. Data from 150 Catholic school administrators were collected using an online survey. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and ANOVA. The findings revealed a positive correlation between organizational learning and innovation and life cycle stage and innovation. It was concluded that administrators could benefit from attention to life cycle stage and innovative practices, as well as, organizational learning and innovative practices. A forced field analysis is recommended to determine where a particular school lies on the life cycle spectrum and what is needed to move it towards its desired stage. School administrators may apply the findings from the study by identifying successful innovative practices that could revive faltering schools and strengthen quality educational programs for children from low-income families who attend Catholic schools

Managing innovation uncertainties : a user-oriented knowledge typology

New product development processes are subject to uncertainties. These uncertainties can and should be managed to prevent innovations from failing. Uncertainties or knowledge deficits are addressed by deploying the right approaches, or learning activities to stimulate relevant inflows of knowledge. A typology of user-oriented knowledge types is key to overcome the reluctance of organizations towards multi-actor involvement and user-oriented learning activities. Here, we present a user-oriented knowledge typology departing from the end-user, embedded in a two-states framework (current state opposing future state). We discuss three iterations of the framework, including an expert review and real-world application as part of a workshop with intermediary organizations. When implemented, the framework enabled participants to identify and select learning activities enriching their innovation project. We want to underline our vision to transcend the gut-feeling and experience-driven allocation of learning activities, but instead strive towards optimal activity-selection based on the knowledge deficit at hand

Towards technological rules for designing innovation networks: a dynamic capabilities view.

Inter-organizational innovation networks provide opportunities to exploit complementary resources that reside beyond the boundary of the firm. The shifting locus of innovation and value creation away from the “sole firm as innovator” poses important questions about the nature of these resources and the capabilities needed to leverage them for competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to describe research into producing design-oriented knowledge, for configuring inter-organizational networks as a means of accessing such resources for innovation

Building an Agile Enterprise: Case OP Financial Group - OP Oulu

The fundamental question in the field of strategic management is how organizations can achieve and sustain competitive advantage. Achieving such an ambitious goal has become even more difficult in the modern world of innovation-based competition. Moreover, past success does not guarantee success in the future, which is why companies need to embrace a dual transformation towards focusing on changing customer needs and other strategic interventions. Organizations need to become adaptive and ambidextrous. The enterprise agile framework is gaining popularity and is proposed as a comprehensive answer to the question of building sustainable competitive advantage by many managers in organizations across industries. Agile teams were originally designed for use in small teams and projects, but their potential benefits have made them attractive for adoption at scale. However, adopting agile at scale is complicated. Doing so also means transforming strategy work from long-term planning to a continuous process. Enterprise agile is designed to increase manoeuvrability at the entire spectrum of the organization’s activities, which supports a continuous strategy process. A theoretical representation of the agile operational model is presented. As the enterprise agile framework does not yet have an intellectual home in academic research, the concept of dynamic capabilities is proposed as a theoretical basis as it is well-researched and rooted in the research on adaptive and innovative organizations. Other concepts of interest in this thesis are innovation strategies, business model innovation, technological innovation and a specific dynamic capability, also a well-researched construct, called absorptive capacity. Absorptive capacity emphasizes organizational learning capability which helps firms assimilate and implement new technologies, practices and processes. The empirical section of the thesis studies an independent branch of the largest financial services corporation in Finland. A synthesis between theory and research suggests that organizational learning capability manifests in absorptive capacity, which has comprehensive potential to affect the organization’s ability to implement innovative managerial practices, such as enterprise agile. The enterprise agile framework is found to have potential to broadly strengthen several types of dynamic capabilities, which are at the heart of the organization’s ability to create and sustain competitive advantage. The empirical results further suggest that agile can be divided between concrete agile working methods and broader agile working techniques, which help conceptualize and compartmentalize the broader enterprise agile framework

Collaboration for Success in Crowdsourced Innovation Projects: Knowledge Creation, Team Diversity, and Tacit Coordination

When innovation projects are crowdsourced, individuals are allowed to form teams and collaborate to develop a successful solution. In this environment, teams will be competing with each other, as only the winning ones take the award home. Should a worker work alone, so that she or he does not need to share the award when she or he wins, or should she or he form a team for a better chance to win? In this paper, we studied the behaviors of workers in the context of crowdsourced innovation projects (CIPs). Building upon the theoretical framework of the organizational knowledge creation theory (OKCT), we linked team performance to team formation factors, including team diversity, team coordination, and task complexity. Our preliminary analysis showed that team coordination was an important factor for success. Team diversity in terms of connectivity was a positive factor towards better performance, whereas other factors were not significant. Our study indicates that workers in CIPs are likely to benefit from collaborations, connectivity diversity, and role diversity

ICT–supported reforms of service delivery in Flemish cities: testing the concept of 'information ecology'

This paper explores organizational reforms in Flemish cities related to making the cities’ individual service delivery more efficient, customer orientated, customer friendly and integrated. The paper is the first one of a recently started research project and PhD research about the complexity of managing ICT-supported change of ‘individual’ service delivery. The overall objective of this paper is to set the stage for the research project’s research design in terms of its theoretical framework. Therefore, we report about our first explorative, inductive and descriptive findings related to this type of change within one city. We firstly inductively report about the objectives and the objects of change. Secondly, we develop a provisional theoretical framework. We therefore take the notion of an information ecology as a conceptual starting point and use a combination of elements of neo-institutional theory, system theory and a political perspective on organizational development. In order to explore the potentialities of this approach, we test the framework’s value for understanding the changes within the city. The framework enabled us to describe and analyze this type of reforms without neglecting the complexity of these changes. It tries to link some important public administration theories to the study of the e-government phenomenon that is still an important challenge. The most important lesson is that further refinement of the conceptual framework is needed. Although the analysis shows that the framework offers a conceptual basis to analyze front and back office reforms within public organizations, it still lacks a full and straightforward operationalization of its components, constructs, relations, etc

Investigating the impact of networking capability on firm innovation performance:using the resource-action-performance framework

The author's final peer reviewed version can be found by following the URI link. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose The experience of successful firms has proven that one of the most important ways to promote co-learning and create successful networked innovations is the proper application of inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms. This study aims to use a resource-action-performance framework to open the black box on the relationship between networking capability and innovation performance. The research population embraces companies in the Iranian automotive industry. Design/methodology/approach Due to the latent nature of the variables studied, the required data are collected through a web-based cross-sectional survey. First, the content validity of the measurement tool is evaluated by experts. Then, a pre-test is conducted to assess the reliability of the measurement tool. All data are gathered by the Iranian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (IVMA) and Iranian Auto Parts Manufacturers Association (IAPMA) samples. The power analysis method and G*Power software are used to determine the sample size. Moreover, SmartPLS 3 and IBM SPSS 25 software are used for data analysis of the conceptual model and relating hypotheses. Findings The results of this study indicated that the relationships between networking capability, inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms and inter-organizational learning result in a self-reinforcing loop, with a marked impact on firm innovation performance. Originality/value Since there is little understanding of the interdependencies of networking capability, inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms, co-learning and their effect on firm innovation performance, most previous research studies have focused on only one or two of the above-mentioned variables. Thus, their cumulative effect has not examined yet. Looking at inter-organizational relationships from a network perspective and knowledge-based view (KBV), and to consider the simultaneous effect of knowledge mechanisms and learning as intermediary actions alongside, to consider the performance effect of the capability-building process, are the main advantages of this research