Applying the open innovation system concept to infrastructure projects

Purpose: The goal of this conceptual paper is to provide tools to help maximise the value delivered by infrastructure projects, by developing methods to increase adoption of innovative products during construction. Methods: The role of knowledge flows in determining innovation adoption rates is conceptually examined. A promising new approach is developed. Open innovation system theory is extended, by reviewing the role of three frameworks: (1) knowledge intermediaries, (2) absorptive capacity and (3) governance arrangements. Originality: We develop a novel open innovation system model to guide further research in the area of adoption of innovation on infrastructure projects. The open innovation system model currently lacks definition of core concepts, especially with regard to the impact of different degrees and types of openness. The three frameworks address this issue and add substance to the open innovation system model, addressing widespread criticism that it is underdeveloped. The novelty of our model is in the combination of the three frameworks to explore the system. These frameworks promise new insights into system dynamics and facilitate the development of new methods to optimise the diffusion of innovation. Practical Implications: The framework will help to reveal gaps in knowledge flows that impede the uptake of innovations. In the past, identifying these gaps has been difficult given the lack of nuance in existing theory. The knowledge maps proposed will enable informed policy advice to effectively harness the power of knowledge networks, increase innovation diffusion and improve the performance of infrastructure projects. The models developed in this paper will be used in planned empirical research into innovation on large scale infrastructure projects in the Australian built environment.

Innovation in clinical learning for the acute hospital environment : nursing grand rounds

The literature reports that workload factors affect nurses' ability to fully engage in continuing professional development. Hence the work environment in acute care calls for innovative approaches to achieve continuous development of nursing practice and work satisfaction. This study employs a one group pre-test post-test design to test the effectiveness of nursing grand rounds on nursing worklife satisfaction and work environment in an acute surgical ward. The effect of nursing grand rounds was measured using the Nursing Worklife Satisfaction Scale and the Practice Environment Scale. There was no change between pre- and post-test on these measures but trends were evident in some component scores. Statistical results were inconclusive but observational data indicated that nursing grand rounds was found to be feasible, well attended with tested processes for implementation in an acute care environment.

Landcorp Farming Limited : cultivating livestock, ideas and innovation

In 1987 Landcorp was corporatised as a state-owned enterprise under New Zealand's public sector reforms and began operating as a collection of farms located throughout the country. Twenty years later, Landcorp had established a record of careful land management, productivity growth and solid financial returns, transforming from a fledgling company into one of the country's largest farmers. Landcorp was a major agribusiness with assets of more than $1.4 billion, built on a culture of continuous improvement and an innovative approach to business. The challenge going forward was to continue growth without increasing land ownership : cultivating ideas to grow in less conventional ways. This case study examines the operations, development and innovative approach to business undertaken by Landcorp Farming Limited, concentrating on the challenges faced by the company to maintain profits and growth, and its strategic direction for the future.

The Australian response to climate change : business as usual or legal innovation?

Through international agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol the global community has acknowledged that climate change is a global problem and sought to achieve reductions in global emissions, within a sufficient timeframe, to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The sheer magnitude of emissions reductions required within such an urgent timeframe presents a challenge to conventional regulatory approaches both internationally and within Australia. The phenomenon of climate change is temporally and geographically challenging and it is scientifically complex and uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current Australian legal response to climate change and to examine the legal measures which have been proposed to promote carbon trading, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and carbon sequestration initiatives across Australia. As this paper illustrates, the current Australian approach is clearly ineffective and the law as it stands overwhelmingly inadequate to address Australia’s emissions and meet the enormity of the challenges posed by climate change. Consequently, the government should look towards a more effective legal framework to achieve rapid and urgent transformations in the selection of energy sources, energy use and sequestration initiatives across the Australian community.

External collaboration for innovation can alleviate the effect between the past innovation abandonment and future innovation introduction among SMEs

This study investigates the links between product innovation and external collaboration and between future product innovation and past abandonment in small and medium sized firms. Our findings from 449 manufacturing firms indicated firms that sought ideas or solutions from an external network such as suppliers, or business partners reported higher levels of new product introduction than firms without any external collaboration. Further, firms with past abandonment experiences reported higher levels of new product introduction than firms without such experience. Additionally, the findings indicated that firms with external collaboration were more likely to introduce new products even if they had previously experienced abandonment of a product innovation than firms without external collaboration. Implications, limitations and future research are outlined.

The new middle class meets the creative class : the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and creative innovation in 21st-century China

‘MBA fever’ in China needs to be understood in the wider context of forces driving structural change in China’s relation to the global knowledge economy. The rise of a ‘new middle class’ in China is connected to the new claims for cultural leadership of an emergent ‘creative class’, which generates new issues about the relevance of the MBA in China, in terms of its relevance to Chinese economic circumstances, and its flexibility and capacity to respond to accumulation strategies that emphasise innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

Renovating Research and Policy on Creative Industries and Innovation

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Copyrights and creative commons licensing : pedagogical innovation in a higher education media literacy classroom

This article examines the role of copyrights in contemporary media literacies. It argues that, provided they are ethical, young people’s engagement with text should occur in environments that are as free from restriction as possible. Discussion of open culture ecologies and the emergent education commons is followed by a theorisation of both literacy and copyrights education as forms of epistemology: that is, as effects of knowledge producing discourses and practices. Because Creative Commons licenses respect and are based on existing copyright laws, a brief overview of traditional copyrights for educators is first provided. We then describe the voluntary Creative Commons copyright licensing framework (“some rights reserved”) as an alternative to conventional “all rights reserved” models. This is followed by an account of a series of workshop activities on copyrights and Creative Commons conducted by the authors in the media literacy classes of a preservice teacher education program in Queensland, Australia. It provides one example of a practical program on critical copyrights approaches, which may be adapted and used by other school and higher education institutions.

Design Led Innovation : exploring the synthesis of needs, technologies and business models

The term Design is used to describe a wide range of activities. Like the term innovation, it is often used to describe both an activity and an outcome. Many products and services are often described as being designed, as they describe a conscious process of linking form and function. Alternatively, the many and varied processes of design are often used to describe a cost centre of an organisation to demonstrate a particular competency. However design is often not used to describe the ‘value’ it provides to an organisation and more importantly the ‘value’ it provides to both existing and future customers. Design Led Innovation bridges this gap. Design Led Innovation is a process of creating a sustainable competitive advantage, by radically changing the customer value proposition. A conceptual model has been developed to assist organisations apply and embed design in a company’s vision, strategy, culture, leadership and development processes.

Diversity management for innovation in social enterprises in the UK

This paper examines the linkages between diversity management (DM), innovation and high performance in social enterprises. These linkages are explicated beyond traditional framing of DM limited to workforce composition, to include discussions of innovation through networked diversity practices; reconciliation; and funding options. The paper draws upon a UK-based national survey and the case study data. Multiple data collection methods were used, including semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and workshops with participant observation. NVivo and SPSS software packages were utilized in order to analyse the qualitative and quantitative data, respectively. We used thematic coding and cropping techniques in analysing the case studies in the paper. A broad range of conflicting and supporting literature was enfolded into the conversations and discussion. The paper demonstrates that social enterprises exhibit unique characteristics in terms of size and location, as well as their double remit to add value both economically and socially. As a conclusion, we argue for social enterprises to consider options for DM in the interests of maximization of innovation and business performance. We contend that further research is needed to describe how social entrepreneurs draw upon their various ‘diversity resources’ in the process of innovation

Education for the creative economy : innovation, transdisciplinarity, and networks

The question posed in this chapter is: To what extent does current education theory and practice prepare graduates for the creative economy? We first define what we mean by the term creative economy, explain why we think it is a significant point of focus, derive its key features, describe the human capital requirements of these features, and then discuss whether current education theory and practice are producing these human capital requirements. The term creative economy can be critiqued as a shibboleth, but as a high level metaphor, it nevertheless has value in directing us away from certain sorts of economic activity and toward other kinds. Much economic activity is in no way creative. If I have a monopoly on some valued resource, I do not need to be creative. Other forms of economic activity are intensely creative. If I have no valued resources, I must create something that is valued. At its simplest and yet most profound, the idea of a creative economy suggests a capacity to compete based on engaging in a gainful activity that is different from everyone else’s, rather than pursuing the same endeavor more competitively than everyone else. The ability to differentiate on novelty is key to the concept of creative economy and key to our analysis of education for this economy. Therefore, we follow Potts and Cunningham (2008, p. 18) and Potts, Cunningham, Hartley, and Ormerod (2008) in their discussion of the economic significance of the creative industries and see the creative economy not as a sector but as a set of economic processes that act on the economy as a whole to invigorate innovation based growth. We see the creative economy as suffused with all industry rather than as a sector in its own right. These economic processes are essentially concerned with the production of new ideas that ultimately become new products, service, industry sectors, or, in some cases, process or product innovations in older sectors. Therefore, our starting point is that modern economies depend on innovation, and we see the core of innovation as new knowledge of some kind. We commence with some observations about innovation.