Prior studies have examined the relationship between customer concentration and business model value (hereinafter BMV). This research further examines their relationship by introducing the roles of external carbon emissions and internal dynamic capabilities, and identifies the potential threshold effects induced by the roles. Drawing on a sample of Chinese-listed manufacturing firms from 2012 to 2017, we use a set of regression models, threshold models and robustness checks. The results show that customer concentration is positively related to BMV and carbon emissions modulate a triple-threshold effect on this positive relationship, while dynamic capabilities exhibit threshold effects at both the aggregate and individual levels. This paper provides valuable insights into how firms promote their BMV and achieve carbon neutrality by recognizing the effect of customer concentration on BMV, as well as how firms can leverage their dynamic capabilities to support BMV enhancement and achieve sustainability improvements.
This research investigates whether consumers are willing to pay more for green innovations. As green innovations are often more complex and costly to develop or operate than are conventional innovations, it is important to assess whether consumers truly value the environmental benefits associated with green innovations. Focusing on the specific case of the air transport industry, we investigate whether air passengers are willing to pay more for greener flights (i.e., using new technologies that have lower greenhouse gas emissions). To do so, we conduct a choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis in which respondents are confronted with several product profiles for a plane ticket. The sample comprises 17,325 choices made by 1155 respondents from North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The results reveal passengers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) (in euros) to switch from traditional jet fuel to different technological options that emit fewer greenhouse gas emissions than does kerosene. The results also investigate whether passengers are willing to accept longer flight times, which is an alternative operational method for reducing CO2 emissions. Additional analyses reveal that attitudes toward air transport (flight shame and trust in the aviation industry) and general pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors increase the WTP of passengers for greener innovations, while sociodemographics (age, gender and education) have no significant impact on WTP. This research extends the literature on green innovation by underlining the importance of its social acceptance and by highlighting under which circumstances consumers are willing to pay more for green innovations.
Previous research has largely ignored the role of internal dynamics in filtering conflicting institutional demands facing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and in generating innovation heterogeneity. This study examines the internal dynamics within SOE boards by focusing on how directors representing different institutional logics experience and manage conflicting institutional expectations in a shared decision-making process of ambidextrous innovation. Particularly, using Chinese SOEs as samples, we determine that when faultlines between factional subgroups of directors committed to state and market logic are activated, the balance of ambidextrous innovation will increase; however, the activated faultlines simultaneously lead to declines in exploratory and exploitative innovation. Furthermore, this negative effect on ambidextrous innovation is stronger for high-tech firms but weaker for firms with substantive board independence. We extend the research on SOE innovation, organizational hybridity, and the effects of group faultlines. Additionally, the findings yield practical insights into addressing the challenges of SOE hybridity.
In-store smart technology is rapidly transforming service delivery and value creation in the retail sector. However, despite these advances, academic acumen of customers' perceived value of their smart service interactions remains tenuous, exposing an important omission in extant literature. Addressing this gap, we conceptualize, operationalize, and validate smart service value (SSV) in the retailing context. We first define SSV as the costs and benefits as perceived by customers of using in-store smart service applications. We then operationalize SSV and validate a third-order, reflective-formative construct by means of a scale development survey through Amazon MTurk (study 1; n = 326). To further validate the proposed SSV scale, we subsequently tested our conceptual model using a survey querying a hypothetical retail setting through an Australian panel provider (study 2; n = 298), which was analyzed by using PLS path modeling. Specifically, we explore SSV's effect on customer engagement and trust, which are in turn envisaged to impact customers' quality of life. The results reveal a significant mediating effect of affective customer engagement/trust in the association of SSV and customer-perceived quality of life, highlighting the pertinence of customers' emotional (vs. cognitive) SSV assessments. Our findings are aimed at helping retailers to strategically position smart service technologies in their stores based on customer-perceived SSV.
Cooperative innovation is an effective strategy for enterprises to obtain innovation resources and reduce innovation costs. However, existing studies have paid less attention to why and when enterprises choose cooperative innovation strategies. Focusing on market competition as a salient feature of the task environment, this study explores the mechanisms through which it affects cooperative innovation. Using a sample of leading manufacturing enterprises in China between 2010 and 2018, we adopt a negative binomial model to test our hypotheses. The results show that market competition has a U-shaped relationship with cooperative innovation breadth and cooperative innovation depth. And the relationship between market competition and cooperative innovation is moderated by the institutional environment factors. Specifically, the main effect is negatively moderated by intellectual property protection. And government subsidies only have significant moderating effects on the relationship between market competition and cooperative innovation breadth, but no significant moderating effects on the relationship between market competition and cooperative innovation depth. Besides, revealing the aforementioned relationship, this study provides theoretical and practical implications on how to strike a balance between innovation resources acquisition from the external partners and the associated risks of cooperation.
This study constructs a configurational framework to examine the complex relationships of factors influencing firms' mechanisms in intellectual property (IP) protection within the dichotomy of open and closed innovation models. Our methodology synthesizes an extensive literature review to identify and explicate four configurations of intellectual property and innovation strategies: open/formal, open/informal, closed/formal, and closed/informal. These configurations reflect the multifaceted decision-making firms face in aligning their innovation models with suitable IP mechanisms. By integrating factors such as industry sector, innovation nature, market dynamics, and legal context, we offer a comprehensive framework that captures the strategic considerations of intellectual property management, highlighting the importance of various factors in shaping firms' protection and innovation decisions. Our findings propose a nuanced understanding of IP strategy selection, setting the stage for future empirical investigations to test and refine this framework across diverse industries and markets.