Opportunities in crisis:An empirical study on staff improvisation and enterprise innovative performance

The study develops a theoretical model to account for the effect of staff improvisation on innovation performance by theoretical analysis and literature review.Staff improvisation was defined that staff utilize immediately available resource to produce creative results,in non-routine or unexpected ways,in the case of emergency and under time pressure.Results from a sample of 213 Chinese staff support the study hypothesis,and show that staff improvisation positively affected their creative performance.Furthermore,the three sub-dimensions of improvisation,including spontaneity behavior,creativity intention and utilizing available resource,could significantly promoted firm innovation performance.The results of this research offer guidance to managers about encouraging staff improvisation.Moreover,the present paper provides directions for future research on improvisation and innovation performance.Future research is encouraged to investigate mediating and moderating factors between organization improvisation and creative performance.

Influence of technology transfer from universities on manufacturing firms'innovative performance

Technology transfer(TT)from universities to manufacturing firms is important for enhancing innovation performance(IP)and ultimately improving competitiveness.However,TT is hampered by bureaucracy,inertia,inefficiency,cognitive dissonance,and low research and development activity.The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between TT from universities to manufacturing firms and their IP.This study was conducted based on Megnigbeto's(2018)triple helix game theory.A mixed-method approach was used.The independent variable was TT,measured in terms of technology spillover,networking,and the presence of accelerators and incubators within a firm's locality.The dependent variable was IP,measured through innovation output and innovation efficiency.This study used an explanatory sequential research design.The target population was manufacturing firms in Kenya,identified using a multi-stage sampling strategy.Primary data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires,interview schedules,and checklists.Linear regressions,hierarchical multiple moderated regressions,structural equation modeling,and partial least squares were used to test the hypotheses.The results indicate that TT from universities significantly influences IP in manufacturing firms.Universities are important intermediaries of TT in manufacturing firms in Kenya because of their improved IP and competitiveness.Universities should create dynamic linkages with industries and adopt an engaged learning approach in their programs to create greater and more unique values for enhanced competitiveness and sustainable development.

Supportive tactics for innovative and sustainability performance in emerging SMEs

For this research,we examined the influence of access to domestic and international financing on sustainability performance with a mediating role of innovative performance and a moderating role of access to government support.Data were collected from 317 small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs)through structured questionnaires.The results indicated that access to domestic and international financing significantly contributes to sustainability and innovative performances.Accordingly,we found a partial mediating role of innovative performance between access to domestic financing and sustainability performance as well as between access to international financing and sustainability performance.Access to government support significantly moderates the relationship between access to domestic finances and innovative performance as well as between access to international finances and innovative performance.Practitioners and policymakers should encourage national and international financial institutions and banks to facilitate SMEs by lending them funds for innovative activities and sustainability performance.Moreover,the government should support SMEs,so that they can contribute to economic growth and the gross domestic product.The implications from these matters will be further discussed in this paper.

Global Value Chain Embeddedness,Knowledge Spillovers,and Clustered Firms' Innovation Performance

Empirical evidence of the effects of global value chain( GVC) embeddedness on clustered firms' innovation is presented in this paper. The intermediary roles of the two types of knowledge spillover( explicit and implicit) in GVC embeddedness and clustered firms' innovation are considered, and the effects of structure embeddedness,relationship embeddedness,and acknowledgement embeddedness on clustered firms' innovation are examined. Analysis is based on the sample of 134 export-oriented firms from the Shaoxing industrial cluster in Zhejiang province of China. Results show that although GVC embeddedness is associated with high use of external knowledge sources,clustered firms' innovation is promoted indirectly through explicit knowledge spillover. Intrinsic connections exist among the different dimensions of GVC embeddedness,that is,structure embeddedness not only directly improves relationship embeddedness but also indirectly improves acknowledgement embeddedness through relationship embeddedness.

A Meta-analysis of the Effects of Firm’s Social Capital on Innovation Performance

Despite a surge of studies examining the impact of firm’s social capital on the innovation performance,empirical research shows controversial results.To resolve this problem,this paper conducted a meta-analysis to restudy the impact of the firm’s social capital and its three dimensions on innovation performance based on the previous empirical research results of independent samples.This paper also explored some moderators affecting this relationship from culture,industry,firm and methodology.The results indicated that the firm’s social capital and its three-dimension had positive impact on innovation performance.At the same time,the age of the firm and the cultural context can also affect the impact of social capital on innovation performance to a large extent.Based on these findings,this paper developed recommendations for future research.

Relationship Between Firm’s Social Capital and Innovation Performance:A Meta-Analysis

Despite a surge of studies examining the impact of firm’s social capital on the innovation performance,empirical research shows controversial results.To resolve this problem,this paper conducted a meta-analysis to restudy the relationship between firm’s social capital and innovation performance based on the empirical research results of 63 independent samples.This paper also identified some moderators affecting this relationship.The results indicated that the firm’s social capital-innovation performance link was positive and significant(r=0.363),and the age of the firm and the cultural context affected the impact of social capital on innovation performance to a large extent.Based on these findings,this paper developed recommendations for future research.

How Will Different Types of Regional Innovation Policy and Their Mixes Affect the Innovation Performance of Enterprises: An Empirical Study Based on Shenzhen

Evaluating the functional boundary of different types of innovation policy instruments and their mixes on innovation performance of enterprises is an important but unresolved key issue.This paper,based on the systematically carding the quantization of 155 innovation policies issued by Shenzhen governmental departments from 2011 to 2019,analyzed the characteristics from different types of innovation instruments and their mixes.The results show that Shenzhen governmental has constantly enriched innovation policy instruments for encouraging enterprise innovation,but there are structural unbalances in the issued innovation policy manifested as follows:firstly supply-side policy and environmental-side policy were promulgated more than demand-side policy;secondly the specific instruments employed by Shenzhen governmental were also uneven in different type of innovation policy,like supply-side policy focused on the instruments of government procurement and R&D outsourcing,demand-side policy employed human resource training,innovation infrastructure and fiscal support most,and environmental-side policy main used target planning,intellectual property protection and financial support.This study expands and understanding empirical implementation of different reginal innovation policy instruments,and has implication for Shenzhen governmental in improving the applicability ability of policies in the enterprises innovation.

Inbound Open Innovation, Business Model Design and Firm Innovation Performance

Through systematic literature review,this study constructs a relationship model of the impact of inbound open innovation on firm innovation performance,and introduced two-dimensional business model design(novelty and efficiency)as mediation variables.It is preliminary confirmed theoretically that inbound open innovation has a positive impact on firm innovation performance,and the rationality of business model playing a mediation role in the relationship between inbound open innovation and innovation performance.Through questionnaire survey and empirical analysis,it is concluded that inbound open innovation has a positive impact on firm innovation performance;Two-dimensional business model design(novelty and efficiency)play a completely positive mediation role in the relationship between inbound open innovation and innovation performance.Based on these findings,this paper developed recommendations for future research.

How to Improve the Team Innovation Performance by Means of a Double Approach:Innovative Leadership and Innovation-Oriented Human Resource Management Practices

Innovative leadership and innovation-oriented human resource management practices(HRMPs)are soft and hard measures,respectively,that promote team innovation performance(TIP).This study is based on human capital theory,integrating the leadership process model and the content-process-results framework of HRM(HRM-CPO),and using data from 259 teams and 1,278 employees in leader-subordinate pairs.Results show that team human capital(THC)is an important mediator in explaining the impact of introducing innovation-oriented practices on TIP.In addition,innovative leadership can improve THC by increasing the level of implemented innovation-oriented HRMPs,thereby affecting TIP.The study extends the level at which HRMPs and leadership behaviors work together and responds to the call for integration of two major research fields of HRM and leadership behavior.

Research on Influencing Factors of Innovation Network Performance of Industrial Enterprises above Designated Size in Nanjing Based on System Dynamics

Based on the method of system dynamics,this paper simulates the cycle of collaborative innovation network,involving enterprises,government,research institutions,and science and technology intermediaries from the perspective of capital flow.The results of model analysis show that among the influencing factors,the number of innovation achievements is the most complex variable,and the influence of patent elimination rate is the most significant.The number of Research and Development(R&D)projects is most sensitive to the positive impact of the number of technology intermediaries,and with the passage of time,this kind of effect gradually increases.At the same time,the total industrial assets are positively affected by the intensity of enterprise innovation investment,but there is about three years delay in this effect.

IT Investment and Innovation Performance of Industrial Enterprises:Empirical Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

In this paper,a theoretical frame on how the IT investment influences the innovation performance of enterprise is set up,and the data of Chinese industrial listed companies is used to conduct an empirical test.The study shows that IT investment can improve the innovation performance of enterprises on the whole,but there is heterogeneity among different types of enterprises.Specifically,IT investment of low-innovation strategy-oriented enterprises has a stronger effect on innovation performance than high-innovation strategy-oriented enterprises;IT investment of large enterprises has a more significant effect on innovation performance;and IT investment of state-owned enterprises has a stronger effect on innovation performance than that of non-state-owned enterprises.These conclusions not only provide microscopic evidence for the promotion of innovation performance by IT investment of industrial enterprises,but also have important policy implications for the integration of informatization and industrialization and the construction of a digital China.

Independent technical directors and their effect on corporate innovation in China

As outside advisors,independent directors serve as both consultants and monitors.Based on empirical studies of corporate innovation and independent directors,we used data from listed firms in China from 2007 to 2017 to examine the effect of hiring independent technical directors on the board of directors.This study focused on a firm’s innovation performance and the extent to which this performance is influenced by the relevance of a director’s expertise to the activities of the firm.The results show that when the technical expertise of an independent director is relevant to the operational field of the firm,the firm should perform better in terms of innovation.This result is still significant when applying the two-stage instrumental variable method,showing a higher significance when using the exogenous event of the 2014 Wenfeng.plc case.Moreover,independent technical directors influence innovation primarily by encouraging firms to deepen their current field of research rather than expanding to other fields.Our findings can guide corporations to hire more relevant independent technical directors and can help the government design more accurate policies that promote innovation and entrepreneurship.