Journal of Product Innovation Management最新文献

Although the effects of openness to experience (OTE) on individual creativity are well-established, research on how such effects unfold in a team context is scarce. Drawing on theories of group norms and uncertainty reduction, we argue that team mean OTE leads to a climate of team psychological safety which, in turn, facilitates team creativity. We test our hypothesis over three independent studies, the first comprising 35 business student project teams, the second based on 28 professional teams from the automotive industry, both conducted in the United Kingdom, and the third comprising 24 healthcare teams in Portugal. As predicted, across all three studies, team mean OTE was positively associated with team creativity via the affective emergent state of team psychological safety. Furthermore, the mediating role of team psychological safety remained significant even when accounting for team OTE variance, alternative motivational and cognitive emergent states, namely team promotion focus (studies 1 and 2) and team exploration climate (study 3), as well as empowering leadership (study 3). Finally, in study 3, we examined the differential impact of the two major facets of OTE, intellect, and openness, and found that intellect, but not openness, was responsible for driving the indirect effects. Further analysis did not support alternative perspectives concerning team OTE variance or the interaction between mean and variance. Our findings not only contribute to theoretical understanding regarding the relationship between team personality composition, specifically OTE, and team creativity but also provide much-needed insight into how such effects unfold. We delineate several practical implications for team design and development.

The present study seeks to shed further light on what favors the conversion of inventions into innovations in for-profit firms and to advance our understanding of how to tackle cancer grand challenges (CGCs). Specifically, following the literature on knowledge search and recombination, we analyze whether and how cancer-related inventions developed through an intense adoption of scientific knowledge (scientific search intensity) result in (i) a higher number of approved drugs and (ii) a shorter approval time for new drugs. Notably, while the role of science with regard to technological development has been widely studied, the extent to which science-based solutions relate to new product introduction, especially in terms of coping with grand challenges such as approved cancer drugs, is less known. Furthermore, considering the digitization of (health) R&D and the role of information and communication technologies (i.e., digital technologies) to address grand challenges, we examine whether and how cancer-related inventions developed through an intense adoption of digital knowledge (digital search intensity) directly affect the extent and speed of cancer drug approval, as well as whether interaction effects between scientific and digital search intensity exist. We develop hypotheses that we test on a sample of 65,861 cancer-related patents owned by 139 for-profit firms, collected from the USPTO Cancer Moonshot Patent Data. These have a priority date between 1990 and 2010, and have led to 1035 approved drugs. Results reveal that scientific search intensity is not associated with the number of different drugs developed from a single cancer-related invention but is associated with the speed at which the invention leads to a newly approved drug. Digital search intensity appears not to directly affect cancer drug approval, but it lessens the effects of scientific search intensity, thus pointing to a limit of digitization in cancer R&D and innovation processes.

In recent decades, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have increasingly harnessed local knowledge through various customer involvement practices implemented by their foreign subsidiaries. Our study, using a multi-informant survey of 230 MNE subsidiaries in China, explores how these subsidiaries manage customer involvement in new product development (NPD). We specifically focus on two practices: using customers as an information source (CIS) or as a co-developer (CIC). We posit that the two types of customer involvement have distinct effects on a subsidiary's innovation capability, which in turn impacts two critical NPD outcomes: innovativeness and speed to market. Moreover, we suggest that the roles that customers play in CIS and CIC, as well as their contribution to the subsidiary's innovation capability, depend on whether the specific knowledge is derived from the parent headquarters or local partners. Our findings reveal that technological knowledge transfer from the parent headquarters enhances CIS's effect on innovation capability, yet diminishes that of CIC. In contrast, knowledge sharing from local partners exerts the opposite effects. By elucidating the underlying mechanisms and contingencies, our study fosters a deeper understanding of customer involvement in NPD and provides insightful guidance for MNEs seeking to leverage local knowledge for successful innovations in foreign markets.

The agglomeration of financial resources is generally considered to encourage business practices that promote green innovation. In addition, green innovation is also subject to firms' location and may exhibit significant spatial effects. However, most studies failed to consider the complex association between financial resources and green innovation from the lens of geographical proximity. This paper scrutinizes the influence of geographical proximity of financial resources on green innovation with the case of Chinese listed firms. It critically examines the role of trade-offs between competitive and substitution effects triggered by geographical proximity in this complex relationship. The findings demonstrate that the geographical proximity of financial resources affects firms' trade-offs between competitive and substitution effects, changing their green innovation activities. In addition, green innovation and distance to financial centers have an inverted U-shaped association, suggesting an optimal location between the firm and financial centers conducive to green innovation. Finally, internal ownership reinforces the effect of geographical proximity of financial resources on green innovation, while external environmental regulation weakens this effect. Therefore, this paper extends the existing green innovation theory from the lens of geographic proximity. This can help us better understand the influence of geographic proximity of financial resources on green innovation.

Despite a fundamental revolution in digital technology, along with an ancillary reduction in the cost of transmitting knowledge, the innovation literature on knowledge collaboration continues to hold on to the spatial localization of knowledge collaboration as a truism. Drawing on the open innovation literature and knowledge-based view of firm innovation, this study explores key boundary conditions affecting the relationship between research and development (R&D) collaboration breadth, and product and process innovation. Using a large-scale survey consisting of 25,813 observations of 14,784 firms in the United Kingdom during 2004–2020, we demonstrate that the breadth of knowledge collaboration with regional, national, and international partners directly affects product and process innovation. However, this relationship depends on the geographical location of the collaboration partner, the type of partner, and the firm's absorptive capacity. We found diminishing marginal returns to knowledge collaboration breadth for regional partners in product innovation, and an inverted U-shaped relationship in R&D collaboration breadth with regional partners for process innovation and for national and international partners for product and process innovation. While investment in digital technologies only shifts the curve upwards, it is unlikely to change the direction of the relationship between R&D collaboration and a type of innovation outcome. On the contrary, an increase in the share of science, technology, engineering, and math graduates enables firms to leverage the negative effect of R&D collaboration breadth nationally and specifically for process innovation. Investment in digital technology and human capital increases absorptive capacity and reduces the transaction costs associated with over-search and limited managerial capabilities and resources.

Prior research points out the benefits of external collaboration for innovation, yet little is known of: (a) the changes in the scope of external collaboration over time (i.e., firms increasing, seeking stability, or decreasing the geographic scope of their collaboration), and (b) how such changes in the geographic scope of collaboration affect product innovation novelty and commercialization. Here, we build on organizational learning theory, with the objective of exploring how changes in the geographic scope of collaboration over time affect the novelty of product innovation and its commercial success. Econometric analysis of a large panel of UK firms reveals three novel findings: First, while stability in the geographic scope of collaboration is common, there is a marked incidence of change, that is, firms are increasing or decreasing the geographic scope of collaboration. Second, while moving toward more geographically distant collaboration is beneficial mostly for radical innovation, maintaining stability in the geographic scope of collaboration is particularly beneficial for incremental innovation. Third, we demonstrate that becoming less international in the geographic scope might be beneficial for innovation commercialization. Finally, we identify six pathways to geographic collaboration that map to innovation outcomes.

Novel technology systems, such as “fiber optics” and “printed electronics,” increasingly emerge at the interface of hitherto unrelated technology areas. As such, new technology systems often arise through technology convergence, characterized by integrating technology components and knowledge from different technology systems, resulting in a novel system architecture. This phenomenon is of utmost societal relevancy but simultaneously poses tremendous challenges for firms' technology strategies. Firms must not only cope with unrelated knowledge rooted in hitherto different technologies but also have to decide deliberately how systemic (i.e., complete technology system) versus focused (i.e., single component of the technology system) their engagement in technology development in the converging technology system ought to be. In addition, firms need to decide strategically to what extent to develop specialized or design knowledge. Extant concepts of technology strategy fall short of capturing this complexity inherent in converging technology systems. Therefore, to address how technology strategies co-evolve along with the emergence of new technology systems, this study adds a systems perspective to technology strategy by developing the concept of technology system coverage. This novel dimension of technology strategy is formed by the scope (i.e., focused vs. systemic coverage of the technology system) and type of technological knowledge (i.e., specialized or design knowledge). We empirically apply this novel angle of technology strategy to the convergence field of printed electronics. Based on a longitudinal set of 828 patents over 30 years, 74 relevant corporate actors are identified. The underlying taxonomy enables us to reveal four technology strategies and develop five propositions. The results indicate that all firms build design knowledge over time, whereas not all firms build specialized knowledge, no matter what technology strategy is pursued. In sum, this work advances literature by understanding technology strategy in emerging complex technology systems, introducing a systems perspective.