Assessing the Impact of Open and Closed Knowledge Sourcing Approach on Innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises

AbstractThere is very limited research on open innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). By drawing on complementarity theory and knowledge based theory, this study develops three hypotheses in order to identify the impact of knowledge sourcing approaches for innovation on SMEs’ innovation performance. Surveys collected from 196 SMEs in Korea were analyzed to test the hypotheses by using supermodularity function. The results indicate no significant impact of external knowledge-oriented approach while positive impact of internal knowledge-oriented (i.e., closed approach) on innovation performance. Interestingly, this study finds that open innovation has significant negative impact on SMEs’ innovation performance (i.e., both internal knowledge- and external knowledge-oriented approaches have a substitutive relationship). This study sheds new light on open innovation and knowledge management research by identifying the relationships between knowledge sourcing approaches for innovation and innovation performance in SMEs

Open Innovation Maturity Model for the Government: An Open System Perspective

To meet the increasing expectations of citizens, governments have become increasingly open, transparent, accessible and consultative to deliver efficient public services. These trends can be fulfilled through open government data provision and usage. Governments can generate social and economic values by using data-driven open innovation processes, such as by adopting citizens’ ideas or knowledge related to open data and by providing government data to the public. Despite the trends of open innovation in the context of government, research on open innovation is lacking. Furthermore, most studies disregard the differences of countries in the level of open innovation maturity of open data provision and usage. Therefore, this study aims to understand data-driven open innovation practices in government by developing a government-level open innovation maturity model, evaluating the current status of open innovation of the government, and suggesting appropriate future directions and guidelines for the government

Assessing the User Resistance to Recommender Systems in Exhibition

Under the paradigm shift toward smart tourism, the exhibition industry is making efforts to introduce innovative technologies that can provide more diverse and valuable experiences to attendees. However, various new information technologies have failed in a market in practice due to the user’s resistance against it. Since innovative technology, such as booth recommender systems (BRS), is changing, creating uncertainty among consumers, consumer’s resistance to innovative technology can be considered a normal reaction. Therefore, it is important for a company to understand the psychological aspect of the consumer’s resistance and make measures to overcome the resistance. Accordingly, based on the model of Kim and Kankanhalli (2009), by applying the perceived value, the technology acceptance model, and the status quo bias theory, this study focused on the importance of self-efficacy and technical support in the context of using BRS. To do this purpose, a total of 455 survey data that was collected from “Korea franchise exhibition” attendees were used to analyze the proposed model. Structural equation modeling was applied for data analysis. The result shows that perceived value was affected by relative advantage and switching cost, also switching cost reduced the perceived value. However, self-efficacy reduced the switching cost, thereby decreasing the resistance of exhibition attendees. In addition, technical support increased the relative advantage switching cost and the perceived value. Exhibition attendee’s resistance was significantly negatively affected by perceived value, and positively affected by switching cost. The results will provide balanced viewpoints between the relative advantage and switching cost for exhibition marketers, helping to strengthen the competitiveness in terms of sustainable tourism of exhibition

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN SERVICE INNOVATION: A COMPARISON OF THREE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Service innovation has been considered as a new way to gain competitive advantage and enhance firm performance in a highly competitive market. In addition, technology is believed to encourage and facilitate service innovation. Although several service innovation studies have stressed the importance of technology in service innovation, the roles of technology in service innovation are at the center of debates in service innovation literature. One major research stream in service innovation regards technology as a service innovation dimension (e.g., Gallouj and Weinstein’ and den Hertog’s service innovation frameworks), whereas another major stream considers it an operant resource (e.g., service-dominant logic, resource-advantage theory). The contradictory situation induces the necessity to better understand the role of technology in service innovation. Therefore, this study aims to identify the role of technology in service innovation, i.e., whether it is one of service innovation dimensions or of operant resources. From a resource-based approach, this study proposes a model which considers technology as an operant resource and investigates the impact of technology on firm performance through three service innovation strategies (i.e., service creation-focused, service delivery-focused, and customer interaction-focused strategies). From a dimension-based approach, we also propose two competing models that view technology as a service innovation dimension. In the competing models, technology can influence firm performance either as a mediator between operant resources and performance, or as moderator between service innovation strategies and performance. Based on empirical data from 224 service firms in Korea, we explain the role of technology in service innovation. Our findings indicate that each approach can be used to create different theoretical arguments that explain how to leverage technology in service innovation. Our findings also show the most acceptable role of technology within this study

ZNRD1 and Its Antisense Long Noncoding RNA ZNRD1-AS1 Are Oppositely Regulated by Cold Atmospheric Plasma in Breast Cancer Cells

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has been recognized as a potential alternative or supplementary cancer treatment tool, which is attributed by its selective antiproliferation effect on cancer cells over normal cells. Standardization of the CAP treatment in terms of biological outputs such as cell growth inhibition and gene expression change is essential for its clinical application. This study aims at identifying genes that show consistent expression profiles at a specific CAP condition, which could be used to monitor whether CAP is an appropriate treatment to biological targets. To do this, genes showing differential expression by two different CAP treatment conditions were screened in the MCF-7 breast cancer cells. As a result, ZNRD1 was identified as a potential marker with being consistently upregulated by 600 s but downregulated by the 10×30 s CAP treatment scheme. Expression of ZNRD1 was increased in breast cancer tissues compared to normal tissues, judged by cancer tissue database analysis, and supported by the antiproliferation after siRNA-induced downregulation in MCF-7. Interestingly, the antisense long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) of ZNRD1, ZNRD1-AS1, was regulated to the opposite direction of ZNRD1 by CAP. The siRNA-based qPCR analysis indicates that ZNRD1 downregulates ZNRD1-AS1, but not vice versa. ZNRD1-AS1 was shown to increase a few cis-genes such as HLA-A, HCG9, and PPP1R11 that were also regulated by CAP. Altogether, this study identified a pair of gene and its antisense lncRNA of which expression is precisely controlled by CAP in a dose-dependent manner. These genes could help elucidate the molecular mechanism how CAP regulates lncRNAs in cancer cells