Emerald | European Journal of Innovation Management | Table of Contents

Innovative Employee Behaviour: The Moderating Effects of Mental Involvement and Job Satisfaction on Contextual Variables

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Rune Bysted) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Organizational performance is positively affected by employees’ innovative behaviour, but recent studies indicate that innovative work behaviour may have negative performance consequences. Negative tensions may arise due to employees’ different views on innovation, and efficiency may be reduced because of high job autonomy in innovative job settings. This study examines how job satisfaction and mental involvement via moderation effects increase the effectiveness of innovative work behaviour.Design/methodology/approach - A theoretical model was developed and tested on panel sample data representing 294 employees in a Danish financial company. The response rate on the survey was 93 %. The data was analysed via confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression models.Findings - This study shows that job satisfaction and innovative work behaviour can be aligned in environments characterized by innovation trust. Further mental involvement is identified as a component increasing innovative work behaviour in situations without the opportunity for monitoring.Research limitations/implications - The recently clarified negative effects of IWB highlights the importance of identifying under which circumstances organizations will benefit from IWB. This research adds insights to the importance of moderating effects to the innovative performance.Practical implications - From a managerial perspective: the alignment of job satisfaction and innovative behaviour is central, as this joint optimization affect organizational performance positively. Originality/value - This study reports one of a very limited number of studies focusing on the negative effects of innovative work behaviour. This study demonstrates that innovation trust aligns job satisfaction and innovative work behaviour, and further that mental involvement increases the efficiency of job autonomy.

Understanding the impact of technology on firms’ business models

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Sérgio André Cavalcante) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The main purpose of this research is to identify the impact of a new global positioning technology on firms’ business models. Design/methodology/approach - The empirical setting was a consortium of Danish organizations, established to develop a positioning-based technology platform as a basis for innovative commercial products and/or services. Three of the consortium companies were selected for case-study research.Findings - The main findings were that companies will use the new technology to extend their existing business models, and that the technology platform potentially represents the creation of a new business model for the partner companies in the consortium.Practical implications - This paper is important in that it will help companies understand technological impact from a business model perspective, thereby enabling them to manage innovation better by distinguishing between the creation, extension, revision or termination of business models. Originality/value - The main contribution of this study is its use of the business model perspective to analyse the impact of an emergent technology on companies’ innovation activities. This perspective makes it easier to develop strategic initiatives while managing innovation, and underlines the importance of purposive human action in adopting a proactive behaviour, reducing deterministic views on technological impact.

Key determinants of the successful adoption of new product development methods

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Marc Graner, Magdalena Mißler-Behr) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - In recent years, scholars have devoted increasing attention to the use of methods in new product development. Although their positive impact on product success has been confirmed by a series of studies, little research has so far been conducted into the determinants of the successful method application. The purpose of this paper is to analyze two key determinants for the successful use of methods.Design/methodology/approach - We adopt a structural equation modeling approach and analyze the subject based on a large empirical sample of 410 product development projects. Findings - The way the new product development process is formalized and the extent of top management support have a significant influence on the successful application of methods. Both factors lead to the use of more methods overall and drive the more thorough and intensive deployment of the specific methods used. Practical implications - We show how firms that are seeking a more methodical approach to new product development can consciously create the right determinants for the successful adoption of methods and by doing that can increase the success rate of their new product development activities.Originality/value - Our research adds to the literature on success factors of new product development in two distinct ways. First, we investigate the subject at the level of specific product development projects, based on a large empirical sample and using a structural equation modeling approach, for the first time. Second, the methods investigated were chosen in a systematic, multistep process in which the methods used by several functions involved in new product development were taken into account.

Exploring the Moderating Influence of Product Innovativeness on the Organizational Integration-New Product Market Success Relationship

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Murray R. Millson) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to investigate the moderating impact of product innovativeness on the new product market success-organizational integration relationship.Design/methodology/approach - A mail survey research approach was used that gathered 131 completed survey instruments from NPD managers in the electrical products, medical devices, and the heavy construction equipment industries.Findings - This research confirmed that organizational integration during NPD processes and the innovativeness of new products are associated with new product market success. This study also discovered that product innovativeness does not moderate the organizational integration-new product market success relationship.Research limitations/implications - This study’s findings may not generalizable to industries beyond those studied, the studied relationships may change when new product projects are appended to one another, and it may be necessary to take into account several dimensions of product innovativeness to ascertain the relationship between product innovativeness and new product market success.Practical implications - This study’s results imply organizational integration can be increased to increase the market success of new products, new product developers should integrate marketing and R&D during NPD projects, and the innovativeness of new products can be increased without affecting the organizational integration-new product market success relationship.Originality/value - The investigation of the following research questions contributes to NPD knowledge. How is new product market success related to NPD organizational integration? How is new product market success related to a product’s innovativeness? To what extent does the innovativeness of new products moderate the relationship between new product market success and organizational integration?

Innovative ICT-Mediated Activities for People, Profit and Planet

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Helen Hasan, Joseph Alexander Meloche) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Solutions to complex environmental problems rely on the innovative knowledge and expertise of many professions whose members accept their responsibilities towards the environment. The study described here canvases Information Systems (IS) professionals for their perspectives, knowledge and expertise within the domains of Green IT and Green IS.Design/methodology/approach - Following a review of the Green IT and IS literature, two topics were identified for a Q-study conducted among IS professionals: Topic 1 focussed on which technologies, systems and applications offer the greatest opportunity in solving environmental problems, and Topic 2 on what sets of issues affect these green opportunities. Activity Theory was used to interpret the factors emerging from the Q-study.Findings - Three categories of activities were identified on Topic 1 involving ICT support for "teleworking and teleconferencing", "monitoring, optimising, and modelling" and influencing human understanding and behaviour". The Topic 2 responses were quite varied.Research limitations/implications - A Q-study is both subjective and exploratory not seeking consensus but rather the breadth of opinion on a topic. The findings on topic 1 indicate three directions for future research and topic 2 identified many issues to consider in pursuing Green outcomes.Practical implications - The varied issues identified on Topic 2 reveal the interconnection of environmental projects with economic and social issues.Originality/value - Following this study of IS professionals we call on other professions to consider applying the expertise of their respective fields to the environmental cause.

Adoption of ‘eco-advantage’ by SMEs: emerging opportunities and constraints

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Lynn Oxborrow, Clare Brindley) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Esty and Winston (2006) assert that businesses need to adopt ‘eco-advantage.’ This paper aims to explore the viability of SMEs achieving ‘eco-advantage’ by considering their understanding of sustainability issues, how they adopt and innovate in terms of sustainability and the benefits and obstacles they face.Design/methodology/approach - The research approach is exploratory, comprised of 15 SME embedded cases based in the UK. The cases are participants in short interventions in sustainable product and process design as a part of a university knowledge transfer project, representing the overall case. Cases are based on interviews with company participants and collaborating academics, supplemented by documentary and observational evidence. Findings - The results build on the work on ‘eco-advantage’ (Esty and Winston, 2006), highlighting marketing, rather than compliance issues as a catalyst for change. The newly aware SME enters a development process which involves cumulative capabilities, gaining a nascent inner confidence, which includes espousing wider sustainable values and attempts at influencing internal and upstream practices in four dominant ways: use of alternative materials, enhancing recyclability (Sharma et al, 2010), local sourcing, and product to service shift (Maxwell and van der Vorst 2003), though few fully embrace strategic ecological and economic advantage. Obstacles include ephemerality of benefits (Shearlock et al, 2000) and practicalities, of implementing internal and supply chain innovations.Research limitations/implications - The results reveal the scope and challenges for SMEs to adopt more sustainable practices, encompassing innovations and a broad set of capabilities. Further research points to the need to monitor benefits as well as inputs in evaluating sustainability improvements and consider longitudinal business sustainability issues. Originality/value - The paper informs the emerging debate on sustainability in SMEs, providing a rich source of data to enhance the provision of business support and knowledge transfer activities, where a more holistic and customised approach is required to realise the real environmental and economic benefits accrued from implementing sustainable improvements.