National innovation system: where do government and business diverge?

The paper investigates the national innovation system and divergences in the prioritisation of key measures of the national institutional framework linked to the policy mix supply side. Two acting populations from the Republic of Croatia were selected for this process: on one side, 33 governmental representatives of the institutional framework (IF) ecosystem, and the "opposite side" of 93 owners or CEOs of firms as policy targets or beneficiaries. The produced results were additionally verified through 18 semi-structured interviews with government officials as representatives of the IF. The results confirm the existence of divergences in the perception of importance and relevance of the policy measures between the two populations

Evolving absorptive capacity: the mediating role of systematic knowledge management

Absorptive capacity is mediated through knowledge management capacity on innovation output and performance in technology-oriented firms. While prior research has focused on the direct effect of absorptive capacity on innovation, our model posits that absorptive capacity is more efficient in promoting firms’ innovation provided that it is supported by systematic knowledge management practices. We tested this model that included all four components of absorptive capacity using a sample of 127 manufacturing and technology firms in Croatia. Structural equation modelling procedures were used to test hypotheses. Our findings confirm the significance of the relationship between absorptive capacity and knowledge management within firms. Further, we found that firms with higher acquisition and transformation dimensions of absorptive capacity can enhance and replenish their knowledge management practices, which in return results in higher innovation output. These findings extend previous research by explaining the sometimes contradictory findings concerning knowledge management practices, which firms may adopt to enhance their absorptive capacity

Exploring the impact of the level of absorptive capacity in technology development firms

Absorptive capacity (ACAP) is widely recognized as an effective means of obtaining and sustaining a competitive advantage. Although ACAP was globally introduced decades ago, researchers from Central and Eastern Europe have since underestimated its importance. The research objective of this paper is to answer the following questions: how does the level of ACAP influence the performances of technology-driven firms, and how does it catalyse their innovation outputs? Furthermore, we argue that exporting technology-driven firms possess even higher levels of ACAP than those who are weak or not-at-all exporters. ACAP measured value is examined alongside the innovation outputs of firms and their business performance, with an extended focus on exporters. A selected population of >600 Croatian firms were asked to fill in the questionnaire. Out of the 103 firms that completed the survey, 45 were recognized as intensive technology development performers, and 34 were identified as large exporters. Both populations were tested against formulated hypotheses, ultimately proving that higher levels of ACAP can be seen to positively drive innovation performance which, notably, can be seen most clearly with exporters

Toward the inter-channel synergy renaissance in emerging markets: evidence from adding clicks to bricks in Serbia

The extent to which businesses in transition economies ensure seamless shopping experience may make the difference between venture’s success or failure. Companies are adhering to this growing market demand by shifting from mono to multiple-channel strategies. In many situations, businesses in transition economies implementing a multiple-channel model trace their beginnings to the pure physical sales model. The newly established intersections between offline and online channels create room for achieving inter channel synergies, thus allowing for omni-channel strategic implementation. This creates the potential to cope with rising market challenges, as well as well-developed international competition. The purpose of this study is to examine which key channel management aspects affect the creation of channel synergy in companies transitioning to omni-channel management. Data collected from 97 businesses in Serbia which switched from brick-and-mortar to brick-and-click model was analysed by SEM-PLS approach. Findings suggest that higher levels of channel synergy are achieved through direct influence of channel support, as well as its indirect effect mediated via offline channel. The study also points out underutilisation of online channel in channel synergy creation, as well as relatively lower implementation of modern inter channel practices in businesses from transition markets.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Role of managerial cognition on internationalization earliness and acceleration

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The impact of cognitive reasoning on international entrepreneurial intentions: a multi-country study

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Entrepreneurial cognition and internationalization speed: towards a potential moderating effect of experiential and rational information processing

This study explores the influence that entrepreneurial cognition, in terms of the dichotomy in human information processing, has on the earliness of internationalization and post-entry speed. Entrepreneurial cognition is investigated through the lens of the dual-process theory, which posits that human information processing is formed of two systems, the experiential cognitive system (System 1) and the rational and analytical cognitive system (System 2). The speed of the entire internationalization process is analyzed in terms of earliness (how soon after inception a company enters its first international market) and post-entry speed (how fast it enters new markets after the first internationalization). Drawing on ten cases, we find that companies that internationalized earlier and faster were managed by entrepreneurs with higher levels of the experiential cognitive system. In contrast, companies that internationalized later and more gradually were managed by entrepreneurs with higher levels of the rational cognitive system. Thus, our study reveals that the speed of the entire process of internationalization is governed, at least partially, by the entrepreneur’s cognition. On the basis of our findings, we introduce three propositions on the moderation that the entrepreneur’s cognition exerts on the well-established relations between environmental signals and both earliness of internationalization and post-internationalization speed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio