The limits of open innovation:openness and (quasi-)markets in the organization of innovation

Recent studies have stressed the importance of ‘open innovation’ as a means of enhancing innovation performance. The essence of the open innovation model is to take advantage of external as well as internal knowledge sources in developing and commercialising innovation, so avoiding an excessively narrow internal focus in a key area of corporate activity. Although the external aspect of open innovation is often stressed, another key aspect involves maximising the flow of ideas and knowledge from different sources within the firm, for example through knowledge sharing via the use of cross-functional teams. A fully open innovation approach would therefore combine both aspects i.e. cross-functional teams with boundary-spanning knowledge linkages. This suggests that there should be complementarities between the use cross-functional teams with boundary-spanning knowledge linkages i.e. the returns to implementing open innovation in one innovation activity is should be greater if open innovation is already in place in another innovation activity. However, our findings – based on a large sample of UK and German manufacturing plants – do not support this view. Our results suggest that in practice the benefits envisaged in the open innovation model are not generally achievable by the majority of plants, and that instead the adoption of open innovation across the whole innovation process is likely to reduce innovation outputs. Our results provide some guidance on the type of activities where the adoption of a market-based governance structure such as open innovation may be most valuable. This is likely to be in innovation activities where search is deterministic, activities are separable, and where the required level of knowledge sharing is correspondingly moderate – in other words those activities which are more routinized. For this type of activity market-based governance mechanisms (i.e. open innovation) may well be more efficient than hierarchical governance structures. For other innovation activities where outcomes are more uncertain and unpredictable and the risks of knowledge exchange hazards are greater, quasi-market based governance structures such as open innovation are likely to be subject to rapidly diminishing returns in terms of innovation outputs.

Service innovation, embeddedness and business performance:UK regional evidence

This paper asks to question. First, what types of linkages make firms in the service sector innovate? And second, what is the link between innovation and the firms’ productivity and export performance? Using survey data from Northern Ireland we find that links intra-regional links (i.e. within Northern Ireland) to customers, suppliers and universities have little effect on innovation, but external links (i.e. outside Northern Ireland) help to boost innovation. Relationships between innovation, exporting and productivity prove complex but suggest that innovation itself is not sufficient to generate productivity improvements. Only when innovation is combined with increased export activity are productivity gains produced. This suggests that regional innovation policy should be oriented towards helping firms to innovate only where it helps firms to enter export markets or to expand their existing export market presence.

Innovation in teams : a qualitative and quantitative study of team behaviours

This thesis explores the processes of team innovation. It utilises two studies, an organisationally based pilot and an experimental study, to examine and identify aspects of teams' behaviours that are important for successful innovative outcome. The pilot study, based in two automotive manufacturers, involved the collection of team members' experiences through semi-structured interviews, and identified a number of factors that affected teams' innovative performance. These included: the application of ideative & dissemination processes; the importance of good team relationships, especially those of a more informal nature, in facilitating information and ideative processes; the role of external linkages in enhancing quality and radicality of innovations; and the potential attenuation of innovative ideas by time deadlines. This study revealed a number key team behaviours that may be important in successful innovation outcomes. These included; goal setting, idea generation and development, external contact, task and personal information exchange, leadership, positive feedback and resource deployment. These behaviours formed the basis of a coding system used in the second part of the research. Building on the results from the field based research, an experimental study was undertaken to examine the behavioural differences between three groups of sixteen teams undertaking innovative an task to produce an anti-drugs poster. They were randomly assigned to one of three innovation category conditions suggested by King and Anderson (1990), emergent, imported and imposed. These conditions determined the teams level of access to additional information on previously successful campaigns and the degree of freedom they had with regarding to the design of the poster. In addition, a further experimental condition was imposed on half of the teams per category which involved a formal time deadline for task completion. The teams were video taped for the duration of their innovation and their behaviours analysed and coded in five main aspects including; ideation, external focus, goal setting, interpersonal, directive and resource related activities. A panel of experts, utilising five scales developed from West and Anderson's (1996) innovation outcome measures, assessed the teams' outputs. ANOVAs and repeated measure ANOVAs were deployed to identify whether there were significant differences between the different conditions. The results indicated that there were some behavioural differences between the categories and that over the duration of the task behavioural changes were identified. The results, however, revealed a complex picture and suggested limited support for three distinctive innovation categories. There were many differences in behaviours, but rarely between more than two of the categories. A main finding was the impact that different levels of constraint had in changing teams' focus of attention. For example, emergent teams were found to use both their own team and external resources, whilst those who could import information about other successful campaigns were likely to concentrate outside the team and pay limited attention to the internal resources available within the team. In contrast, those operating under task constraints with aspects of the task imposed onto them were more likely to attend to internal team resources and pay limited attention to the external world. As indicated by the earlier field study, time deadlines did significantly change teams' behaviour, reducing ideative and information exchange behaviours. The model shows an important behavioural progression related to innovate teams. This progression involved the teams' openness initially to external sources, and then to the intra-team environment. Premature closure on the final idea before their mid-point was found to have a detrimental impact on team's innovation. Ideative behaviour per se was not significant for innovation outcome, instead the development of intra-team support and trust emerged as crucial. Analysis of variance revealed some limited differentiation between the behaviours of teams operating under the aforementioned three innovation categories. There were also distinct detrimental differences in the behaviour of those operating under a time deadline. Overall, the study identified the complex interrelationships of team behaviours and outcomes, and between teams and their context.

Collaborative alliances and organisational innovation : a study of the innovation process

Despite the voluminous studies written about organisational innovation over the last 30-40 years our understanding of this phenomenon continues to be inconsistent and inconclusive (Wolfe, 1994). An assessment of the theoretical and methodological issues influencing the explanatory utility of many studies has led scholars (e.g. Slappendel, 1996) to re-evaluate the assumptions used to ground studies. Building on these criticisms the current study contributes to the development of an interactive perspective of organisational innovation. This work contributes empirically and theoretically to an improved understanding of the innovation process and the interaction between the realm of action and the mediating effects of pre-existing contingencies i.e. social control, economic exchange and the communicability of knowledge (Scarbrough, 1996). Building on recent advances in institutional theory (see Barley, 1986; 1990; Barley and Tolbert, 1997) and critical theory (Morrow, 1994, Sayer, 1992) the study aims to demonstrate, via longitudinal intensive research, the process through which ideas are translated into reality. This is significant because, despite a growing recognition of the implicit link between the strategic conduct of actors and the institutional realm in organisational analysis, there are few examples that theorise and empirically test these connections. By assessing an under researched example of technology transfer; the government's Teaching Company Scheme (TCS) this project provides a critique of the innovation process that contributes to theory and our appreciation of change in the UK government's premier technology transfer scheme (QR, 1996). Critical moments during the translation of ideas illustrate how elements that are linked to social control, economic exchange and communicability mediate the innovation process. Using analytical categories i.e. contradiction, slippage and dysfunctionality these are assessed in relation to the actions (coping strategies) of programme members over a two-year period. Drawing on Giddens' (1995) notion of the duality of structure this study explores the nature of the relationship between the task environment and institutional environment demonstrating how and why knowledge is both an enabler and barrier to organisational innovation.

Strategic innovation networks

This thesis draws on two key areas of the innovation literature, the strategic management of technology (SMOT) and innovation networks. The aim is to integrate these two areas of the management of innovation literature to develop a framework which I describe as the Strategic Innovation Network (SIN). The key proposition that the revised framework (SIN) aims to address is based on the work of Chandler (1962). Chandler's (1962) conclusion that 'structure follows strategy' is examined in relation to the interaction between corporate/technology strategy and network structure. The SIN is intended to address weaknesses in both the SMOT and network literature. The research data is based on five detailed longitudinal case studies. The organisations are defined as mid-corporate firms operating in traditional manufacturing sectors. Each organisation was chosen on the basis that it was aiming to develop its innovative capacity through product or process innovation projects. The research was carried out over an 18 month period with interviews being held regularly to develop the longitudinal aspect of the study analysis. The data for each individual case study is examined using the SIN framework. The longitudinal approach addresses the objective to provide a dynamic model of the innovation processes by mapping the changes in network structure during the course of individual projects. The network structural changes are examined in relation to each organisation's strategy and five key dynamic network stages are identified in relation to the innovation process. These network stages show the influence strategy has on the structures adopted by the five case studies.

An exploration of the determinants of innovation:the top management team, organisational climate and organisational learning

Some researchers argue that the top team, rather than the CEO, is a better predictor of an organisation’s fate (Finkelstein & Hambrick, 1996; Knight et al., 1999). However, others suggest that the importance of the top management team (TMT) composition literature is exaggerated (West & Schwenk, 1996). This has stimulated a need for further research on TMTs. While the importance of TMT is well documented in the innovation literature, the organisational environment also plays a key role in determining organisational outcomes. Therefore, the inclusion of both TMT characteristics and organisational variables (climate and organisational learning) in this study provides a more holistic picture of innovation. The research methodologies employed includes (i) interviews with TMT members in 35 Irish software companies (ii) a survey completed by managerial respondents and core workers in these companies (iii) in-depth interviews with TMT members from five companies. Data were gathered in two phases, time 1 (1998-2000) and time 2 (2003). The TMT played an important part in fostering innovation. However, it was a group process, rather than team demography, that was most strongly associated with innovation. Task reflexivity was an important predictor of innovation time 1, time 2). Only one measure of TMT diversity was associated with innovation - tenure diversity -in time 2 only. Organisational context played an important role in determining innovation. This was positively associated with innovation - but with one dimension of organisational learning only. The ability to share information (access to information) was not associated with innovation but the motivation to share information was (perceiving the sharing of information to be valuable). Innovative climate was also associated with innovation. This study suggests that this will lead to innovative outcomes if employees perceive the organisation to support risk, experimentation and other innovative behaviours.

The European Community and innovation policy : reorienting towards diffusion

This study aims to explore the position of diffusion oriented support mechanisms in European Community (EC) innovation policy. With the shift from the traditional linear model towards an integrative approach to innovation, the role of diffusion of technologies and knowledge, achieved greater weight. This shift in both the thinking of academic experts, and of national policy makers, induced EC policy makers to appeal for similar changes in Community innovation policy. From the mid-1980s, the Commission of the European Communities, the key actor in EC policy making, thought to move its innovation policy away from the traditional science push approach. This study shows that in the implementation of programmes for research, technology and innovation, the traditional linear model is still dominant. The core research and technological development programmes still operate from a science push concept of innovation, mainly due to their pre-competitive nature. The case of SPRINT illustrates that policy programmes with an integrated innovation perspective can be successful at Community level. However the programme operates in a relatively isolated position from overall research and technological development policy. The case of BRITE-EURAM illustrates the difficulties of collaborative research programmes, the bulk of EC support mechanisms, to move away from the traditional model. The study shows how conflicting policy objectives arising from the different policy networks that shape EC policy making, in combination with a lack of co-ordination in those policy domains, hinder the emergence of the integrated approach. Consequently EC diffusion policy, implemented from the perspective of the linear model, will have a sub-optimal impact on the competitiveness of European industries.

Informal boundary-spanning links and networks in successful technological innovation

The sources of ideas embodied within successful technological innovation has been a subject of interest in many studies since the 1950s. This research suggests that sources external to the innovating organisation account for between one and two-thirds of the inputs important to the innovation process. In addition, studies have long highlighted the important role played by the personal boundary-spanning relationships of engineers and scientists as a channel for the transference of such inputs. However, research concerning the role and nature of personal boundary-spanning links in the innovation process have either been primarily structurally orientated, seeking to map out the informal networks of scientists and engineers, or more typically, anecdotal. The objective of this research was to reveal and build upon our knowledge of the role, nature and importance of informal exchange activity in the innovation process. In order to achieve this, an empirical study was undertaken to determine the informal sources, channels and mechanisms employed in the development of thirty five award-winning innovations. Through the adoption of the network perspective, the multiple sources and pluralistic patterns of collaboration and communication in the innovation process were systematically explored. This approach provided a framework that allowed for the detailed study of both the individual dyadic links and morphology of the innovation action-sets in which these dyads were embedded. The research found, for example, that the mobilisation of boundary-spanning links and networks was an important or critical factor in nineteen (54%) of the development projects. Of these, informal boundary-spanning exchange activity was considered to be important or critical in eight (23%).

The Once and future pioneers? : the role of voluntary organizations in innovation in the personal social services

This thesis explores the innovative capacity of voluntary organizations in the field of the personal social services. It commences with a full literature review, which concludes that the wealth of research upon innovation in the organization studies field has not addressed this topic, whilst the specialist literatures upon voluntary organizations and upon the personal social services have neglected the study of innovation. The research contained in this thesis is intended to right this neglect and to integrate lessons from both fields. It combines a survey of the innovative activity of voluntary organizations in three localities with cross-sectional case studies of innovative, developmental and traditional organizations. The research concludes that innovation is an important, but not integral, characteristic of voluntary organizations. It develops a contingent model of this innovative capacity of voluntary organizations, which stresses the role of external environmental and institutional forces in shaping and releasing this capacity. It concludes by considering the contribution of this model both to organization studies and to the study of voluntary organizations.

Business implications of manufacturing innovation : the experience of increasing automation in smaller to medium sized companies.

Despite the considerable potential of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) for improving the economic performance of many firms, a growing body of literature highlights many instances where realising this potential has proven to be a more difficult task than initially envisaged. Focussing upon the implementation of new manufacturing technologies in several smaller to medium sized enterprises (SME), the research examines the proposition that many of these problems can be attributed in part to inadequate consideration of the integrated nature of such technologies, where the effects of their implementation are not localised, but are felt throughout a business. The criteria for the economic evaluation of such technologies are seen as needing to reflect this, and the research develops an innovative methodology employing micro-computer based spreadsheets, to demonstrate how a series of financial models can be used to quantify the effects of new investments upon overall company performance. Case studies include: the development of a prototype machine based absorption costing system to assist in the evaluation of CNC machine tool purchases in a press making company; the economics and strategy of introducing a flexible manufacturing system for the production of ballscrews; and analysing the progressive introduction of computer based printing presses in a packaging and general print company. Complementary insights are also provided from discussion with the management of several other companies which have experienced technological change. The research was conducted as a collaborative CASE project in the Interdisciplinary Higher Degrees Scheme and was jointly funded by the SERC and Gaydon Technology Limited and later assisted by PE-Inbucon. The findings of the research shows that the introduction of new manufacturing technologies usually requires a fundamental rethink of the existing practices of a business. In particular, its implementation is seen as ideally needing to take place as part of a longer term business and manufacturing strategy, but that short term commercial pressures and limited resources often mean that firms experience difficulty in realising this. The use of a spreadsheet based methodology is shown to be of considerable assistance in evaluating new investments, and is seen as being the limit of sophistication that a smaller business is willing to employ. Several points for effective modelling practice are also given, together with an outline of the context in which a modelling approach is most applicable.

Managerial cognitions in technological innovation processes:a study of interpretative processes

In this research, conceptualizations of the links between technological innovation and organizational change are explored and recommendations in the literature concerning such changes are reviewed and criticized. Such recommendations do not usually address the details of social interactions by which organizational changes take place. As a consequence, the issue of how these recommendations become relevant for the actors who would carry them out is not addressed. The complexity of organizational change processes highlights the role of actors' interpretations of organizational reality. Interpretations take place through the use of language in the interaction between actors. Theoretical contributions and recommendations concerning organizational changes should be seen therefore as discourses which contribute to these interpretations. They will influence the process of change only if they become relevant for organizational actors'. A method for analysing discourse in organizations is presented. It is used to identify the variety of discourses which are put forward in organizations, and to describe the structure of their distribution among actors. The structures of discourses in three companies suggest that knowledge about technological innovation processes becomes relevant to the extent that it contributes to political/discursive processes maintained by actors attempting to secure or change their role definitions. It follows that recommendations concerning planned organizational change should take into account these processes explicitly. It is therefore suggested that the analysis of discourse can be a valuable instrument for monitoring change processes. Suggestions for further research are made, concerning (i) the development of the method itself and its use in real situations (ii) the study of how discourse structures evolve over time and episodes of change.

Technology policy and technological innovation in the People's Republic of China

The objective of this research is to unveil the dynamics of technological innovation in planned economies in transition. It is proposed in the thesis that all innovation systems in the world, in fact, consist of certain configurations of market and hierarchy. These systems have always been shifting from one existing market-hierarchy mix to a new one, which is expected to be more conducive to technological innovation and economic development. Current reforms in many planned economies in transition reflect this theoretical proposition. A research framework is constructed to include three main dimensions for the study of a specific innovation system, i.e. Arrangements, Achievements and Actors. China, which has undergone reforms since 1978, is chosen as the empirical basis of the research. The research examined technology policy and technological innovation in China between 1978 to 1988. The thesis starts from Arrangements - R&D System in China and Its Reform. The thesis illustrates reforms in the R&D system in relation to government technology policy. There exist coherent government efforts to promote innovations through various plans, and the planning process incorporates both market and command elements. The institutional structure of Chinese R&D system remains still vertically departmentalised, but horizontal links are created through the market. Secondly, Achievements - Performance of Chinese R&D System is assessed through patterns of technological innovation. Data from National Awards for S&T Progress (1978-1988) are included in a substantial database, which is used to generate patterns of technological innovation and patterns of innovating organisations. These patterns were presented and interpreted in relation to geographical differences, sectoral differences, typological differences, forms of co-operation and the impacts of S&T policy and reform. The third dimension is study on Actors - Innovation in Applied R&D institutes. Through semi-structured interviews and questionnaire survey, internal structure and research management are analysed in the light of ongoing reforms. The reform of R&D funding system greatly affected the way applied R&D institutes operate. Both organisational and individual incentives for innovating are increasingly associated with economic or material benefits. The research suggests there is a need to put reforms in the R&D system into a wider societal and political context. Some general attributes of applied R&D institutes are also discussed in the thesis.

Customer-driven innovation within U.S. business services and its impact on firm performance

This thesis examines the innovative performance of 206 U.S. business service firms. Undeniably, a need exists for better comprehension of the service sector of developed economies. This research takes a unique view by applying a synthesis approach to studying innovation and attempts to build under a proposed strategic innovation paradigm. A quantitative method is utilised via questionnaire in which all major types of innovation are under examination including: product and service, organisational, and technology-driven innovations. Essential ideas for this conceptual framework encapsulate a new mode of understanding service innovation. Basically, the structure of this analysis encompasses the likelihood of innovation and determining the extent of innovation, while also attempting to shed light on the factors which determine the impact of innovation on performance among service firms. What differentiates this research is its focus on customer-driven service firms in addition to other external linkages. A synopsis of the findings suggest that external linkages, particularly with customers, suppliers and strategic alliances or joint ventures, significantly affect innovation performance with regard to the introduction of new services. Service firms which incorporate formal and informal R&D experience significant increases in the extent of new-to-market and new-to-firm innovations. Additionally, the results show that customer-driven service firms experience greater productivity and growth. Furthermore, the findings suggest that external linkages assist service firm performance.