The Microfoundations of Dynamic Capabilities for Incremental and Radical Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Businesses

We theorize and test the impact of two microfoundations of dynamic capabilities on incremental and radical innovation in knowledge-intensive businesses (KIBs). We argue that numerical flexibility and training, as human resources (HR) microfoundations that enable the configuration and deployment of resources, have different implications for incremental and radical innovation. Furthermore, we contend that those KIBs that make significant use of numerical flexibility will invest less in training, thus impacting innovation outcomes. We test our arguments using an original, longitudinal dyadic dataset assembled from 1750 structured interviews conducted with HR directors and senior managers in 875 KIBs located in Finland, France, Sweden and the UK. We find that numerical flexibility is negatively related to both incremental and radical innovation, whereas training is positively related to both. Our test of the moderating impact of training on both types of innovation resulting from the use of numerical flexibility was not statistically significant. Overall, we suggest that not all efforts by KIBs to mobilize resources and capabilities and align them with a complex external environment in the pursuit of innovation are necessarily beneficial. We highlight some research, policy, and practice implications that arise from our findings.     

Managing Multiple Facets of Risk in New Product Alliances*

The trend of forming alliances to develop new products continues; however, many of these new product alliances fail. As such we explore how key risk types intrinsic in new product alliances, performance, relational, and knowledge appropriation risks, influence alliance success. Further, we theorize that different alliance governance mechanisms can reduce the negative impact of risks on alliance success. To disentangle possible heterogeneous factors across firms that may affect the interplay of risk assessments and the use of governance mechanisms, we employ latent class regression analysis on survey data collected from 128 new product alliance firms and find support for a two‐regime solution. Longer alliance relationships and lower technological turbulence are factors for some firms (regime one), while the opposite are factors for other firms (regime two). These two regimes show different patterns in the interplay of risk assessments and governance for alliance success. Our theory and results support viewing risk as a multiple‐factor concept and by understanding the different impacts of the risk types in new product alliances and how governance mechanisms mitigate such effects, we aid managers' decision making regarding the balance of contractual versus normative governance in new product alliances. Understanding the heterogeneous factors inherent in these complex relationships enables managers to understand the conditions in which various governance mechanisms promote new product alliance success.     

产品创新领先企业竞争优势研究

随着市场经济的发展和科学技术的进步,企业产品生命周期越发短暂,加快产品创新,缩短产品开发时间已成为企业获得和保持竞争优势的关键。然而并不是在任何条件下产品创新领先企业都能获得竞争优势,其竞争优势的获得和保持还受外部环境和产品或服务特征的影响。本文对创新领先企业可以获得的竞争优势、市场绩效、难以获得和保持竞争优势的原因作了探讨,并以权变的观点分析了影响领先优势的几个因素,最后得出了相关结论。     

基于开放式创新的新产品开发模糊前端模型研究

开放式创新模式的出现对企业新产品开发(NPD)过程中模糊前端(FFE)创新活动带来重要影响。本文在对模糊前端、开放式创新以及知识共享等现有研究进行文献综述的基础上,重点对四个经典FFE模型的典型特征、共性与差异、优点与不足进行了系统分析,进而从开放式创新与知识共享的视角,探索并构建提出了FFE的开放式模型。并对该模型的五个重要环节、关键概念及其相互关系进行了界定说明与分析评价,既融入经典模型的深厚积淀,又弥补了传统模型在开放性与知识共享等方面的不足。为解决企业在开放式创新环境下新产品开发FFE阶段面临的新问题提供了很好的理论框架与方法支撑。     

新产品开发创意新源泉——来自海尔的案例分析

开发适合市场需求的新产品已经成为企业获得竞争优势的重要来源.通过对海尔三个实践案例的分析,指出零售商是企业获得新产品开发创意的重要源泉,并提出了通过零售商获得新产品开发创意的途径.研究结论不仅丰富了现有的理论成果,同时也为我国企业实践提供了有益的指导.     

日本制造企业新产品开发过程中模糊前端创新的效果分析

本文对日本制造企业新产品开发(NPD)过程中模糊前端(FFE)创新成功的关键因素进行了大样本分析,开发并构建了FFE创新要素与NPD项目绩效之间的因果关系模型.根据513家日本制造企业NPD项目的调查数据,运用AMOS验证因果关系模型,我们得出两个重要结论:在FFE阶段,技术和市场的不确定性减少越多,NPD项目的效率越高;开发前项目初始规划强度越大,开发过程中市场和技术的不确定性就越少.而且相对服务企业而言,制造企业的管理层更容易做出对降低市场不确定性有重大影响的初始规划.     

研发阶段新产品信息发布:时间与频率策略研究

新产品开发过程中,何时、以什么频率向外发布所开发的新产品的信息,是企业经营者需要决策的重要问题.现有的文献对新产品信息发布频率尚无直接研究,对首次发布信息时间的研究也还非常有限.本文基于信号理论和有效市场理论,以2000-2010年间我国上市公司发布的602个新产品项目为样本,采用事件研究法和回归分析,研究了研发阶段企业新产品信息发布的时间与频率策略及其市场效果.结果表明,新产品首次发布信息的时间、发布信息的频率对新产品的市场价值都存在倒U形的影响;开发过程中企业与外部商业伙伴的合作对上述两种影响产生负向的调节作用;新产品的创新性正向调节首次发布信息的时间对新产品市场价值的影响.本文的研究结果对于企业新产品开发阶段信息传播策略具有现实的指导意义.     

新产品开发项目的有效决策模型

为了研究影响新产品开发项目有效决策的诸因素及它们之间的相互关系,区分出这些因素中的促进项和抑制项,对北京中关村地区十多家高科技公司进行了实地调研,结合 20 多位项目经理的实践经验,归纳出了影响新产品开发项目有效决策的重要因素.认为决策者的先验知识、项目条件和决策者主观意识三方面因素是影响高科技新产品开发项目有效决策的关键.并构建理论模型对这些重要因素和相互关系进行了描述.     

制造业企业产品创新与工艺创新协同发展博弈分析

对制造业企业内部协同创新即企业产品创新部门产品创新与工艺创新部门工艺创新的协同发展进行了博弈分析,研究了产品创新部门与工艺创新部门在有限的创新投入情况下,产品创新与工艺创新投入比例应满足的条件。同时,对制造业企业外部协同创新即同行业中的两个制造业企业的产品创新与工艺创新的协同发展进行了博弈分析,研究了古诺条件下制造业企业在进行产品创新、进行工艺创新以及同时进行产品创新和工艺创新三种情况下,制造业企业产品创新成本函数、工艺创新成本函数应满足的条件,以及制造业企业如何进行产品创新和工艺创新协同策略选择。     

Managing Cross-Functional Cooperation for New Product Development Success

This article focuses on conditions that make cross-functional cooperation in new product development projects more or less productive. We investigate 40 NPD projects in the consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals industries in which R&D and marketing played key roles. We find that the contributions of cross-functional cooperation to NPD success are contingent on the type of market and technology opportunities being pursued. More specifically, our results suggest that when a project team pursues an opportunity characterized by high levels of technological and market risks, investments in high levels of cross-functional cooperation are warranted to increase NPD success. We do not find evidence that cross-functional cooperation moderates the relationship between the openness of an NPD project towards external information and knowledge and its performance. This suggests that less integrated project teams could achieve similar results as more integrated teams in terms of processing large quantities of information and knowledge without incurring the costs that may stem from high levels of cross-functional cooperation.     

供应商参与新产品开发对企业自主创新能力的影响研究

本文以装备制造企业为实证研究对象,探讨了供应商参与新产品开发对企业自主创新能力的影响关系.同时,构建了包括供应商参与新产品开发、关系互动、知识创造、企业自主创新能力四个变量的概念模型,并提出相应的理论假设.通过结构方程模型的检验,表明供应商参与新产品开发对关系互动和知识创造均有显著的正向影响,进而通过两者对企业自主创新能力有显著正向影响.     

Coping with Diversity in Alliances for Innovation: The Role of Relational Social Capital and Knowledge Codifiability

Alliances are increasingly considered a key element for innovation, especially in knowledge‐intensive firms. While this is true, the mere membership to alliances does not explain innovation performance, and thus the alliance's characteristics that determine high performance must be examined. This research address the question of how the diversity of partners in a certain alliance for innovation affects innovation performance, and how this influence can be moderated by certain characteristics, such as the relational dimension of social capital and the type of knowledge shared among partners. The empirical analysis of a sample of 90 biotech companies shows that there is an inverted U‐shaped relationship between alliance partner diversity and innovation performance and confirms the positive moderating effects of relational social capital and knowledge codifiability. These findings contribute to the current research on alliances for innovation by providing empirical evidence on why some alliances perform better than others. Also, the results suggest that the study of alliance partner diversity, as a determinant of alliance performance, should not be addressed in isolation.     

消费者数据化参与的研发创新——企业与消费者协同演化视角的双案例研究

既有消费者参与研发的研究主要聚焦于领先用户等特殊消费者,本文基于两家互联网服装企业的案例研究发现,大数据应用为普通消费者参与企业研发提供了条件和可能。本文据此提出消费者数据化参与研发的概念,从企业与消费者协同演化视角构建了大数据环境下普通消费者数据化参与研发的理论框架,着重探讨:(1)普通消费者如何参与研发;(2)不同设计理念的企业如何实现普通消费者参与的研发创新。研究结果表明,大数据环境下普通消费者通过数据化方式参与研发,企业通过对消费者大数据的利用,使研发决策从依靠人的经验判断转变为依靠人与数据的结合,从而实现研发创新。具体而言,秉持用户导向的企业形成了数据驱动型研发创新,秉持设计师导向的企业形成了数据支持型研发创新。由此,将消费者参与研发的研究从特殊消费者扩展到普通消费者从而形成理论创新,为探讨大数据环境下企业与消费者价值共创提供新的洞见。