Journal of Innovation & Knowledge最新文献

This study is to understand the current status of online sustainability reporting (SR) practices by Irish universities. The paper reveals that online SR is in its infancy at the sample universities and there is significant room for improvement. Irish universities have initiated using web-based SR to inform their stakeholder groups, but they tend to report symbolic contents rather than substantive ones. The findings indicate that online SR practice by Irish universities is for the purpose of gaining legitimacy rather than satisfying the information needs of stakeholders. The assessment of online SR practices serves as a first step to help the universities use new technologies, in particular the internet, to improve the dialogue with stakeholders. This paper reminds universities that they should seek more than merely to meet the minimum acceptable level of online SR disclosure in society. The study will be of interest to university administrators, policymakers, regulators, and other stakeholder groups of universities.

The widespread application of data technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things plays an important role in promoting agricultural technology innovation. This article uses the 2022 survey data of farmers' economic behaviour in Hubei Province, China to construct an analytical framework and indicator system for the impact of digital technology adoption on farmers' grain production technology innovation. The relationship between digital technology adoption and farmers' grain production technology innovation is explored using binomial logistic regression models and multiple linear regression models, And use regression decomposition method to calculate the degree of impact of digital technology adoption on farmers' grain production technology innovation. The research has drawn the following conclusions: firstly, digital technology is conducive to enhancing technological innovation in grain production; The second is that innovation in grain production technology is the result of multiple factors such as digital technology, agricultural machinery and technology promotion, farmers' income, and skill training working together; The barriers and limitations of digital technology on innovation in grain production technology can be overcome by improving the service level of agricultural machinery and promoting agricultural technology training. This article believes that enhancing the innovation level of grain production technology requires attention to the adoption of digital technology and adopting diversified measures to enhance the innovation level of grain production technology amongst farmers.

The integration of generative AI tools, such as chatbots, into project management is revolutionizing the field. This paper explores how project managers are adopting and adapting these tools, specifically focusing on ChatGPT, for enhanced project management. Using Adaptive Structuration Theory, the study examines project managers' appropriation of generative AI. It considers factors like Innovation Attitude, Peer Influence, and Task-Technology Fit, employing a survey of Italian project managers. The approach adopted to analyze data is based on Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modeling. The research confirms the significance of the hypothesized antecedents in AI tool appropriation. Innovation Attitude and Peer Influence are shown to positively impact the creative and 'unfaithful' use of AI in project management. Task-Technology Fit is crucial for effective AI integration, impacting both creative behaviour and unfaithful appropriation. The study highlights the role of an innovative mindset, peer dynamics, and task compatibility in the effective use of AI tools in project management. It suggests potential areas for future research, including exploring cultural and organizational contexts and the rapid evolution of AI technologies.

This study examines how digital economy development in China impacts the urban–rural income gap. We construct a digital economy development index using panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China from 2013 to 2021. By combining a spatially varying coefficient model with a chain–mediated effect model, we quantify the impact of digital economy on the urban–rural income gap and examine its spatial heterogeneity. The results show that the digital economy influences the urban–rural income gap through four different pathways, each of which exhibits significant spatial variation. As these paths offset each other, the digital economy development in Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and other provinces has widened the urban–rural income gap, resulting in a digital divide effect. However, in most areas of China's northeast, east coast, and western regions, the digital economy development has narrowed the income gap, resulting in a digital dividend effect. This study investigates the relevant debates among scholars and provides valuable insights and foundations for strategic decision making to reduce the urban–rural income gap in various regions.

Co-creation 5.0 is a new era in which frontline employees (FLE) and service robots work as a team. This study examines the consequences of co-creation 5.0 on service outcomes in a real context and analyses the moderating effect of the FLEs and collaborative service robot (CSR) teams. We employed the attribution theory as the conceptual framework. Moreover, we studied the relationships between two service outcomes (perceived value of the firm and word of mouth (WOM) intention about the firm), two explanatory variables related to the two agents (perceived competence of FLEs and satisfaction with human–robot interaction (HRI), and the moderating effect of the FLE–CSR team. An empirical investigation was designed involving two CSRs that provided customers with information for one week each in two hotel lobbies. Qualitative research was conducted through observations and personal interviews with employees and customers. Customer evaluations were performed using a questionnaire based on scales validated in the literature. The findings show that in the current state of technology, in the context of co-creation 5.0, the FLE is primarily responsible for the firms’ outcomes from the customer perspective. The CSR is seen as a service delivery team member with a complementary character. However, personnel have negative opinions about CSRs and do not regard them as partners. However, customers assign responsibility to CSR, and an increase in their social–emotional skills leads to increased attribution of responsibility.

This study examines the impact of digital integration on the environmental sustainability of European companies from 2016 to 2022, focusing on emissions reduction, environmental innovation, and resource efficiency. Using a two-stage system generalized method of moments (GMM) model and quantile regression with instrumental variables on panel data, we investigate how digital technologies influence corporate sustainability practices. Descriptive statistics reveal significant variation in digital technology adoption and environmental performance among the 22 European countries studied. Pearson's correlation matrix and variance inflation factor analyses confirm the absence of multicollinearity among the variables. The empirical results from the two-stage GMM model demonstrate that digital integration positively affects emissions reduction, environmental innovation, and resource efficiency. These findings are consistent across different quantiles, indicating that digital integration benefits companies regardless of their initial sustainability levels. However, the impact is more pronounced for companies with lower initial performance. The Hansen test validates the instruments used, and the absence of second-order serial correlation supports the robustness of our GMM model estimations. The positive relationship between past and current sustainability performance underscores the dynamic nature of corporate environmental practices. Our study highlights the crucial role of digital integration in promoting sustainable business practices and offers significant implications for policymakers and business managers. Companies are encouraged to assess their digital environmental footprints, invest in sustainable technologies, and adopt green innovations. Policymakers should support the development of digital industries and facilitate their integration into traditional sectors to enhance overall sustainability. The findings contribute to understanding how digital transformation can drive environmental sustainability, providing a foundation for future research on the intersection of digital technologies and corporate sustainability practices.

Some firms have successfully harnessed artificial intelligence (AI) to create unparalleled wealth, while most around them have failed to do so. This managerial challenge has led to recent calls for research to answer the question of how firms can use AI to create and appropriate economic value. This paper answers that question. The paper reviews the existing research and discusses its merits. This review highlights the need for subsequent conceptual reconfigurations of business model theory, the theory of data network effects, and the theory of situated AI for competitive advantage. The integration of these three theories leads to a novel theory: AI-enabled business models for competitive advantage. This paper contributes to the broad literature on technology management, and more specifically to literature on technology-enabled business models and the use of AI. Several important managerial implications are outlined to help firms ensure successful AI use.

With more activities being moved online during the COVID-era, digital infrastructure, as a public service, is now playing a greater role in influencing innovation and making the symbiotic relationship between innovation subjects closer. While the surge in patenting in China is associated with a significant innovation gap, there is noticeable regional disparity in digital infrastructure. This study investigates whether the digital infrastructure divide widens the innovation gap in the context of the innovation ecosystem. Based on the entropy weight method, a comprehensive index of digital infrastructure was constructed using provincial panel data from China for the years 2013 to 2018. The findings suggest that the digital infrastructure divide widens the innovation gap; however, this gap can be narrowed by upgrading the industrial structure. The relationship between different regions in China involves both competitive and reciprocal symbiosis. The mediating effect of the industrial structure in the eastern region is smaller than that in the non-eastern region. Moreover, the digital infrastructure divide has a disadvantage for late adopters when digital infrastructure falls below a specific threshold. Once this threshold is crossed, its impact changes from a digital divide to a digital dividend.

These findings have several theoretical implications. In digital economy literature, our support for comprehensively assessing the level of digital infrastructure is noteworthy. In innovation ecosystem literature, the broad framework that encompasses the evolution of innovation, including digital infrastructure and industrial structure, is significant. This study highlights the digitization of the innovation ecosystem and offers practical implications for narrowing the innovation gap between researchers, individuals, and policymakers.

Frugal innovation, a new paradigm suitable for start-ups to promote innovation with restrained resources, has proliferated over the past decade. However, a comprehensive analysis of the factors affecting frugal innovation during the entrepreneurial process is lacking. To fill this gap, this study explores the antecedent conditions of frugal innovation, based on the Timmons model and configurational perspective through a fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 132 start-ups in China. Resources, entrepreneurial opportunities, and top management teams are key factors in an entrepreneurial process. Our study findings indicate that frugal innovation cannot be achieved through one of these factors independently. Further analysis indicates that the combined effects of resources, entrepreneurial opportunity, teams, and digital technologies facilitate frugal innovation; particularly, four configurations are observed to enhance it. These include the "sustainable leadership-centric and resource-enhanced configuration" (F1), the "cognitive flexibility-centric and market response-enhanced configuration" (F2), the "digital technology and resource double-centric configuration" (F3), and the "multiple centric configuration" (F4). Moreover, complementary or substitutional relationships exist among resource bricolage, external relational embeddedness, resource activities, and market activities.

The introduction of Category Management in operational resources purchasing helps to improve logistics service levels and increase the profitability of industrial enterprises. There are two main purposes of the provided article. The first purpose is to develop a methodological framework for category management of operational resources supply for large industrial enterprises. Secondly, it aims to offer a mechanism for inter-organizational collaboration with suppliers and contractors in supply chains. This study is based on the methods of forecasting of the uncertain stock demand. Time-series and correlation-regression models are used for forecasting. The first finding of the research is the systematization and classification of the operational resources purchased by industrial enterprises. Modified models of operational resources inventory management and a methodology for assessing tied-up losses are offered in this article and, they are based on category management. A developed methodology allows one to make strategic decisions in the field of procurement. According to the preliminary estimates, implementation of the proposed approaches increases net profit in large industrial companies by 4–5 % in relative periods.