Search

In this conceptual work, we describe cross-disciplinary meaning and language related to the innovation phenomenon located in a business context. Our work attempts to find common meaning and language for innovation that can be applied across all business innovation projects irrespective of the business discipline, and to synthesize these common terms into an innovation communication and planning tool. The objective of providing a common meaning and language for innovation is to give practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders a shared communication platform, and common language and meaning that assist incumbents to discuss and collaborate during innovation projects without the boundaries created by siloed, nuanced, and discipline-specific understandings. The outcome of the paper is a conceptual framework and canvas tool constructed from universal meaning and language for business innovation with the aim of providing a set of common questions that business practitioners could ask during times of innovation. Furthermore, the Business Innovation Canvas provides new directions for future study and the development of tools that take advantage of common meaning and language to aid innovation practitioners and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the operationalization of policy directionality in terms of goal consistency as well as the spatial dimensions of problems and solutions. The study focuses on cross-border regions (CBRs), since they are engaged in cooperation to tackle common challenges. This study employs a comparative analysis across two EU CBRs, drawing on a theoretical framework that integrates the trinity of agency scholarships and the literature on the multiplicity of border functions. By combining these perspectives, we aim to illustrate how agents navigate the opportunity spaces generated within CBRs. This paper aims to shed light on the interplay between agents to navigate the conditions that the presence of international border generates in the EU cross-border regions (CBR)s to tackle Societal Challenges (SC)s. Through this integrated framework, we explore how agents perceive, interpret, and respond to the complex dynamics and possibilities that emerge in CBRs, shedding light on the interplay between structure and agency in these unique spatial settings. The findings show how SC can be framed at different scales with ambivalent results in terms of consistency of policy goals. Framed through the trinity agency framework, actors interacted collectively to generate and transfer knowledge in the CBRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fintech and Industry 4.0 paradigms, and the combination of the two, have gained increasing attention from the scientific community in recent years. This paper aims to explore the convergence of these two research themes by framing their interplay through a systematic literature review covering the period of 2017 to August 2021 and involving 78 papers. The bibliometric approach made it possible to extract a large amount of useful information which was previously scattered and to present it in a systematic way. The analysis of the co-occurrence network of keywords identified four distinct clusters, corresponding to the dominant research themes in the area, which suggested the design of a research agenda. The agenda-driven questions indicated which current aspects of Fintech and Industry 4.0 need additional insight. In that regard, the environmental and social responsibility aspects of the firms in the sectors were found of particular importance. Theoretical and practical implications of this study as well as answers provided to a set of initially posed research questions were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a conceptual framework for understanding ‘innovation’ in early childhood education as a process for addressing issues around social justice and inclusion. The framework is used to analyse innovative aspects of two unique, localised early childhood programmes implemented to support ethnic minority children in Northern Thailand and children of migrant labourers in urban India. Drawing on contemporary critiques that point to the global predominance of universalised models of teaching and learning, the paper highlights these contextually-responsive programmes as crucial in demonstrating the importance of ‘emergent’ pedagogical approaches for achieving equity and inclusion. To promote greater acknowledgement of programmes such as these, the paper presents a case for shifting the current focus on ‘innovation’ in education away from an emphasis on effectiveness for supporting greater efficiency of standardised, pre-determined learning outcomes, to encompass small-scale, localised approaches that support children from marginalised backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the use of video recording as a method of data collection has helped researchers to resolve the challenge of capturing classroom interactions between teachers and students, it can be challenging for the researchers and teachers to make sense of the rich data collected. This paper describes an approach of analysing and visualising a language lesson with lesson microgenre and network graphs to provide an overview map of the lesson enactment. Studying the language lesson from a lesson microgenre perspective can provide both the co-text and context of the lesson when specific segments of the lesson are identified for interpretation and reflection by the teacher. The lesson map is visualised using network graphs to show the progression, connections, and patterns of the lesson microgenres. The paper describes the application of the approach in a study of the English lessons conducted by two teachers in a Singapore primary school and discuss the implications of the approach on teacher training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows a positive association between skilled migration and innovation. Related literature however is largely limited to the use of proxies such as patents, and publications. There is also a lack of attention to how innovation is accomplished in practices. This paper addresses these gaps with an examination of the innovative contributions made by immigrant engineers in Canada. Conceptually, informed by practice-based theories, it conceives innovation as a sociocultural and sociomaterial process that leads to the transformation of the object/motives of activities, i.e. the problem space to which actions are directed. Empirically, drawing on a thematic and situational analysis of the career accounts of 32 immigrant engineers, it shows that immigrants expand engineering practices by introducing, inter alias, new technologies, products, processes, policies and standards. It further traces the rise of the problem spaces, and the ways in which engineering objects and other practitioners are knotted into practices of innovation. It argues that while immigrants manage to introduce epistemic objects through continuous learning and knowledge translation, it is through the enrolment of other practitioners, and technologies and tools that relations of differences and power are (re)negotiated, and new ways of doing become amplified as innovation at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creativity, driving environmentally sustainable fashion design through innovation, has become increasingly more important. From an educational perspective, enhancing students' creative design thinking processes, presents several challenges, especially in blended learning. This article addresses this concern and reports on the implementation of a blended learning teaching framework, applied to support students' positive emotions and creativity during an environmentally sustainable fashion design project that required innovative design solutions. The qualitative inquiry adopted a case study research design, involving undergraduate fashion design students at a tertiary institution in South Africa. Two key findings have emerged from the research. Firstly, the significant level of creativity required by the undertaken design project requires re-thinking of support for creative and innovative thinking. Secondly, a clearer understanding of the anxiousness caused when participants are faced with innovative design practices is needed to find suitable solutions. Based on the findings, this paper concludes with improvements presented in an amended framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ESRC funded Innovate Project has explored how innovation is undertaken and experienced by professionals tasked with the responsibility of introducing new practice approaches in welfare provision for young people at risk of harm outside the home. This paper reports on our experiences of facilitating reflective discussion groups for professionals engaged in introducing Transitional Safeguarding into welfare settings in the UK. Within these reflective spaces we became aware of how the emotional impact of innovation is under-recognised and needs to be attended to, in order to ensure that the investment of peoples' time and energy, alongside public monies, is not compromised. We draw on the psychoanalytic concepts of borderline states and the analytic third to highlight how such reflective spaces can provide the 'emotional infrastructure' to protect and promote the efficacy of innovation in challenging contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the knowledge-based view (KBV), we investigate how and under what conditions knowledge search, including problemistic and slack searches, affects radical and incremental innovation. Using a data set composed of 247 Chinese firms, this study finds that slack search promotes radical and incremental innovation directly while problemistic search can positively affect radical and incremental innovation by the mediating role of knowledge integration capability (KIC). In addition, learning inertia strengthens the positive effect of problemistic search on KIC. This paper primarily contributes to innovation literature by clarifying and verifying how problemistic and slack searches affect radical and incremental innovation from the combined perspective of knowledge inertia and KIC. It also creates a foundation for further empirical investigation by explaining why existing studies have different views on the impacts of knowledge search on firm innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and experimental development (R&D) is an important driver of economic growth and productivity. Gross expenditure on domestic R&D (GERD) is a country's total expenditure on R&D performed by all sectors of the economy. South Africa's GERD as a percentage of its GDP (GERD/GDP) remains below government targets and has stagnated over the past decade, largely due to declining business sector R&D. This paper aims to identify the drivers of firm-level R&D intensity, defined as the firm's R&D expenditure as a percentage of turnover. It is the first South African study to examine both micro- and macro-economic drivers of firm R&D, with a paucity of literature on this topic for middle-income countries. Using the South African National R&D Survey data, the study utilized the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model and found that public financial support for firms, smaller firm-size, firm-level collaboration, political stability, foreign direct investment, and public R&D investment are positively associated with firm R&D intensity. The results highlight the importance of public financial support for smaller firms and investments in higher education and research institutions in promoting firm-level R&D, thereby providing useful policy insights for boosting business sector and economy-wide R&D expenditure and reaching national GERD/GDP targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAgainst the backdrop of frequent international trade frictions, reducing external risks in export trade through industrial policies has become crucial for China’s high-quality and steady foreign trade development. This paper examines the impact of development zone upgrading policies on the diversification of firm product exports by using a time-varying difference-in-differences model. We find that after the upgrading of development zones, the diversification of firm product exports increases by 2.13%, and concentration decreases by 1.33%. Moreover, this policy has a stronger impact on the diversification level of product exports for firms upgraded to customs special supervision areas, located inland, and engaged in general trade. These conclusions remain robust even after conducting additional robustness tests using alternative measures of the dependent variable, different identification methods for development zone upgrading, and controlling for other industrial policy effects. Furthermore, the upgrading of development zones improves export diversification through three main channels: enhancing firm innovation capabilities, optimizing management efficiency, and providing financial support to firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological development is a key factor for shaping social life, transforming the ways in which societies organize their production, mobility and communication processes. Since the beginning of industrialization, the pace of the transformations brought about by technological change has increased dramatically, and has further accelerated since the advent of the new digital technologies. These development processes has also impacts in terms of social, economic and environmental costs, a fact that has been addressed in the past few decades by various social movements as well as theoreticians, becoming a key issue in political and social discussion agendas. In this paper, we outline a historical perspective of these changes and their effects, from pre-industrial, industrial, post-Fordism and network societies, and we focus on the mobilizing potential of technological change. We analyze the role that technological interfaces play today in social transformation, as well as the implications for our present day that our interactions become increasingly intermediated by digital technologies. Finally, we discuss digital technologies and their impacts on social inequity. We argue that a public and democratic agenda comprising both development and technological issues should be put in place for guaranteeing social development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual embeddedness of inventors' cooperative networks influences firm innovation. This paper explores the mechanism of synergy between network structural embeddedness (network centrality and structural hole) and relational embeddedness (relational strength) on firm innovation using data from Chinese listed automobile companies. This paper further explores the mediating role of exploitative learning and exploratory learning between the synergy of cooperative network dual embeddedness and innovation. The results show that the synergy of network centrality and relational strength hinders innovation, while the synergy of the structural hole and relational strength promotes innovation. The synergy of centrality and relational strength hinders exploitative learning, while the synergy of the structural hole and relational strength promotes exploitative learning. Exploitative learning plays a mediating role between synergy of structure and relational embeddedness and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to advance the state of knowledge related to innovation and philanthropy, by exploring the emerging field of 'participatory grantmaking' (PGM) through the lens of innovation literature. While there are increasing amounts of European and global grantmakers utilizing more participatory methodologies in their grantmaking as a means to move power and increase the collective ability to create social good, there is yet to be any literature specifically exploring the links between these two fields. This conceptual paper, therefore, uses a broad reading of innovation literature to argue that it is most fruitful to consider PGM as innovation within four modalities: as a form of social innovation, process innovation, both radical and incremental innovation, and user-driven innovation. The paper ultimately finds that user-driven innovation (and in particular co-creation / co-production as a strategy to user-driven innovation) may provide the best examples of theory and practical relevance for those utilizing PGM as a means to democratize philanthropy in Europe and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts the multinomial endogenous treatment effect approach to analyze the impact of innovation choices on the income of 230 fish workers in the Greater Accra and Central regions of Ghana, while the Kendall's ranking technique is applied to analyze the constraints to innovation. Findings show that technological and non-technological innovations available to fish workers have positive impacts on their income. Specifically, savings, credit access, and support service are identified to have positive impacts on income while gender and membership of a fish workers' association have negative impacts on income. The most pressing constraints to innovation faced by female fish workers are cultural/ethnic restrictions, social exclusion, and time constraints. On the other hand, a high dependency ratio and discrimination in access to resources are the most pressing constraints faced by male fish workers. The paper recommends that stakeholders should continue to offer support services to fish workers. In addition, lending institutions should make credit accessible at lower interest rates. Interventions by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and development agencies that aim to solve constraints of fish workers should be approached from a gender dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The level of defence industrial innovation success has been modest in Malaysia, despite continuous investment into research and development (R&D). The authors use the Defence Research and Development Stakeholder Engagement Framework (DRDSEF) to argue that strategic collaborative engagement between stakeholders is critical for successful industrial and technological innovation. This paper has two aims: to describe the role of the stakeholders in managing defence R&D funding and to evaluate the challenges faced by these stakeholders in managing government defence R&D allocation for industrial and technological innovation. This is an exploratory case study using a combination of interpretivist and pragmatist philosophical approaches. Analysed data consists of secondary resources and primary resources included surveys in the form of open-ended semi-structured interviews and participatory observation. This paper concludes that successful defence R&D stakeholder engagement requires an open and independent platform, enhanced industry-academia cross-sector fertilisation and collaborative data analytics management tools to share information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides information about the design, development, and evaluation of hand-eye coordination devices used to test and evaluate hand-eye coordination. Hand-eye coordination is the synchronized control of hand movement with eye movementand the processing of visual input to assist attainment, acquisition, and the use of hand proprioception to guide the eyes. Hand-eye coordination and visual-spatial abilities are essential for a child's development because they are required not only for practical independence but also for scholastic achievement. This paper outlines the development of a hand-eye coordination device using a specially designed pen (sensor), plates with patterns to trace, and a wooden cabinet to enclose and support the auxiliary components. This is a strong diagnostic in-house development in response to meet the requirements of practitioners looking for an accurate technique of measuring the progress of the hand-eye coordination of the patients. The purpose of the study is to assess the validity and dependability/reliability of the suggested device. The practicing physiotherapists conducted the assessments for children. This device was reliable and can be used by physiotherapists. This development provides portable hand-eye coordination equipment with reliable readings for the assessment of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firm-level innovation in sub-Saharan Africa remains under-researched. To address this gap, this paper examines the obstacles to innovation faced by small, micro, and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa. Using the 2018 Business Innovation Survey, we apply the double-hurdle model to investigate factors determining a firm's decision to invest, and the intensity of innovation. Our results show that cost and institutional obstacles were significantly more important as disincentive factors for medium-sized enterprises while knowledge obstacles were significant disincentive factors for large enterprises. In addition, market obstacles hampered investment among large enterprises. Interestingly, none of these factors was found to deter innovation intensity among small and micro enterprises. The study findings suggest that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to innovation policy and intervention programmes to support innovation within firms of different sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between affective trust in the supervisor and innovative work behavior. In addition, this paper investigated the mediating role of proactive skill development in the affective trust - innovative work behavior relationship and the moderating role of learning goal orientation in the affective trust – proactive skill development relationship. Data for this study were collected from 220 employees drawn from four FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies based in Pakistan. Multiple regression analyses and the bootstrapping procedure were used to test the research hypotheses. Results revealed that proactive skill development partially mediated the effects of affective trust in the supervisor on innovative work behavior. Furthermore, we found that learning goal orientation strengthened the direct effect of affective trust in the supervisor on proactive skill development and also strengthened its indirect effect on innovative work behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of our results and the limitations of this research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej formulated the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP). "Sufficiency" means balancing reasonable moderation in production against the need for protection from sudden internal and external shocks. SEP follows the middle path as a guiding principle for all classes of society and government. Knowledge, thoughtfulness, prudence, and ethical integrity are essential to achieve the middle path. This paper explores the use of SEP as a method of social innovation for enhancing delivery of public services and for localizing the process of sustainable development. Such innovative use of SEP is illustrated by three exploratory case studies of local administrative organisations (LAOs) in Thailand. All three LAOs' case studies have mayors with significant entrepreneurial talent useful in teaching entrepreneurial action to their residents, their staff, and other local leaders. Together, these cases show the potential of SEP as a method of bottom up social action and sustainable development. A brief discussion of the wider need for and use of innovation, including social innovations, and underpinning entrepreneurship, is included prior to the Thai case studies. There is also a short section examining similar types of activities to those observed in the cases in the European context by way of comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short paper serves as an introduction to the special issue published in Geografiska Annaler B on the topic of innovation in the periphery. In addition to summarizing the main contributions included within the special issue, this piece reflects on the current state of knowledge in this sub-field and where the gaps are that need to be filled by research going forwards. This collection represents one step in this direction and pushes forward an interdisciplinary and varied approach to studying innovation in the periphery. There are three particular themes relating to innovation in the periphery that this piece picks up: defining peripheries, beyond technological innovation in the periphery and discourses of crisis in the periphery. It finishes with some suggestions for a roadmap, looking forward as to what the future of research in the periphery might be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations in digital platforms have led to strategic innovations of digital services which are exchanged between digital organizations and their customers. There are significant flows, not only of information, but also of innovation from digital platforms to services through a strategic innovation system. But how and why the flows shape the system are under-explained in the literature. This paper explores these innovation flows in two Ghanaian small-medium enterprises. It aims to explain the flows in order to contribute knowledge of a strategic innovation system which extends previous knowledge of strategic information systems. The explanation is that the stragic innovation system is shaped by innovation flows because of three types of adaptabilities: cognition, software production, and service provision. These adaptabilities are moderated respectively by leading and mutual learning, technologizing and liberating, and customer learning and relating. The theoretical contributions espoused by this explanation are discussed with their research and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtually all scholars recognize that scientific and technological capabilities are becoming increasingly important factors in a nation's overall power. Unsurprisingly, debates over a possible U.S.–China power transition highlight China's rise as a science and technology superpower. These discussions overwhelmingly center on national innovation capabilities, reflective of the bias in assessments of scientific and technological capabilities toward the generation of novel advances. This paper argues that these assessments should, instead, place greater weight on a state's capacity to diffuse, or widely adopt, innovations. Specifically, when there is a significant gap between a rising power's innovation capacity and its diffusion capacity, relying solely on the former results in misleading appraisals of its potential to sustain economic growth in the long run. I demonstrate this with two historical cases: the U.S. in the Second Industrial Revolution and the Soviet Union in the early postwar period. Lastly, I show that, in contrast to assessments based on innovation capacity, a diffusion-centric approach reveals that China is far from being a science and technology superpower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attending and consuming events are integral to many peoples' leisure lives. However, as the literature attests, events represent significant sites of contestation over who does and does not belong. This paper explores such contestation in the notoriously elitist and traditionally exclusionary sport of cricket, and specifically The Hundred; the most recent attempt to democratise the sport by appealing to a more demographically diverse spectator base. It uniquely blends extensive semi-structured interviews with stakeholders (n = 33), and a synthesised theoretical framework of mediatisation, media events and digital leisure studies, to argue that the apparent success of The Hundred in attracting and including new audiences has been enabled by incorporating elements of media spectacle. We therefore, use The Hundred to further delineate the processes described in the extant literature, and extend analysis of the 'digital turn', by drawing attention to the tensions between the speed and trajectory of these developments and the constraints imposed by cricket's history. We illustrate how digital and analogue leisure remain highly interdependent, and argue that the ongoing contestation of game forms championed by different cricket stakeholders makes it improbable that The Hundred can achieve its twin goals of being economically viable, while increasing the popularity and, ultimately survival, of other cricket formats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the purpose of this paper, we examine the association between foreign direct investment, openness to trade, infrastructure, innovation, and economic development in 10 members of the Commonwealth Independent States between 2000 and 2020 using a panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag model. According to the results, none of the elements that are researched for this paper has a statistically significant influence on economic growth over the short term. On the other hand, in the long run, each of the variables, including foreign direct investment, infrastructure, innovation, and trade openness, has a statistically favorable and substantial impact on economic growth; furthermore, the findings are in line with the findings of the baseline static panel data models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paradigm of innovation has evolved over the last decades worldwide. The old conception of innovation as technological change has become more diversified and specialised. Current debates express the need to provide a holistic view of innovation, with its pros and cons, including all dimensions of innovation in society and different fields. This paper consists of a qualitative review focusing on three concepts: 'innovation', 'social innovation' and 'innovation in education'. This research includes a historical analysis within 1939–2019 as the base period of analysis. This article is based on 108 different sources, which were carefully selected. The analysis was carried out with content analysis in our main sample. This paper contributes to our understanding of innovation more holistically, by discovering how innovation is understood and used, but also by looking at the different stages it has gone through in historical debates and evolutionary trends. This article presents different perspectives on innovation over time and helps to recognise the evolution of the concept of innovation and the emergence of social innovation as a field of its own. Furthermore, the relevance of innovation in the field of education is presented and current debates on the understanding of innovation are situated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the innovative intensity (iMID effect) in the local production systems (LPSs) using dynamic territorial units that modifies their geographical boundaries and specialization over time. The paper is based on the idea that the local communities are the real unit of generation of innovation and that they are constantly changing, behaving like a 'living innovation machine'. To explore this dynamic relationship, the paper applies the Marshallian industrial district (MID) as an approach to industrial change. Then, it focuses on the Marshallian industrial districts (MIDs) as a type of LPS and asks how the innovation effect changes in MIDs and other types of LPSs when dynamic territorial units are used. The differences in innovation intensity between the different types of LPSs are explained for Spain in the period 1991–2014 using new methods of analysis that combine causal analysis, a variable and adaptive geometry of territorial units and industrial specialization, and machine learning methods. The results show that the transformation of an LPS into another type of LPS does not automatically imply a change in innovative capacity, and the type of LPS of origin continues to be relevant in explaining current innovation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to construct a scale for Jupsang leadership orientation (JSLO). We first provide a theoretical background for the concept of Jupsang, which originates from the ancient literature of Sun Tsu and Lao Tsu and the modern literature of Maoism and Deng Xiaoping in China. We used a grounded theory approach to obtain five dimensions of the Jupsang concept: agility orientation, innovation orientation, vigilant orientation, market awareness orientation, and visionary orientation. Items were generated through 12 in-depth interviews in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China and were included in a questionnaire, which we used to collect data from two large forums in Hong Kong, where 440 middle and senior executives from China attended. Using SPSS Version 25 and following the scale development procedures provided by Churchill and De Villis, we found the Jupsang scale reliable and valid. This paper contributes to providing a brand new scale for strategic leadership. Practically, it can enhance the relationship between a leader and his/her followers. Finally, we provided limitations and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability transitions require that sustainable innovations develop and scale-up. Two promising approaches contribute to this purpose. Design thinking (DT) focuses on the creative development of sustainable innovations to achieve desirable, feasible and viable products. Strategic niche management (SNM) addresses how sustainable innovations should be deployed to the market. At first sight, these concepts seem to pursue a complementary mission, yet, academic literature has not explicitly addressed their complementary nature. Therefore, this paper addresses this gap by reviewing, proposing and empirically exploring the merits of SNM and how these can be used in DT through a workshop to increase successful market implementation of sustainable innovations. The study finds that SNM potentially helps the DT design process to (1) change market preconditions for the design, (2) create a protected niche for development, (3) establish a (long term) commercial viability, and (4) create an innovation development plan through definition of a set of testable propositions. The paper concludes that the inclusion of SNM into DT substantially increases the preparedness of an innovation team for a successful market implementation of sustainable innovations and coins the term 'Design to Market Thinking' for the integrated use of SNM in DT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to generate a better understanding of the real estate development industry that eventually (re)shapes our urban landscape, this paper explores the potentially different development behaviours and outcomes between insider and outsider developers in creative industry-led urban regeneration. Viewing real estate development as an institutionally loaded process, this paper distils developers' disparities in seeking development inputs, delivering products and securing transactions, which bear major implications for their innovation readiness and competency in urban regeneration. Paintworks in Bristol and Baltic Triangle in Liverpool UK are used as case studies to illustrate how insider and outsider developers forge their unique development logic and products under specific market and institutional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe education and pedagogy have been adopted with the growth of technology in order to achieve efficient consequences by the usage of innovational and up-to-date technologies. The new methods in neuroscience and neurotechnology have influenced the educational systems and the classrooms. A considerable number of researches have been projected in this field that all try to demonstrate the advantages and desirable effects of neurotechnology in education and the classrooms. In fact, most researchers have connived its harms and disadvantages on the students and the educational systems and the sphere of the classrooms. This paper tries to survey the fourteen recent researches in the framework of critical theory to discuss the adverse effects of neurotechnology as well as their neglected aspects in education and the classrooms. The findings illuminate that crucial disadvantages of neurotechnology are neglected in education and on the participants in the process of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the twenty-first century, competitiveness has become a pillar of sustainable development strategies around the world. Numerous international organizations and academics cite innovation and entrepreneurship as determinants of competitiveness. By incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship into the economy and society, countries have been able to implement policies to boost national competitiveness. However, not all countries have been equally successful because each country has its own unique characteristics that apply only within its national borders. An innovation system refers to the innovation institutions, actors, and infrastructures that shape innovation activities within national or regional boundaries. This article identifies the configurations of conditions that lead to high and low levels of national competitiveness. This paper presents the results of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) with six causal conditions. The results reveal six combinations of factors that increase national competitiveness. R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship support policies, and GDP per capita are crucial elements. In contrast, developed entrepreneurship does not guarantee competitiveness achievement if a country possesses poor R&D and institutional infrastructures. The implications of this study can help resource allocation by supporting the design and implementation of effective innovation and entrepreneurship policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the bibliography on GIs keeps increasing, there is skepticism regarding the impact and effectiveness of GI policy. This paper deals with four categories of products in the fruit and vegetable sector of the PDOs and PGIs of the EU. It examines their relationship with tradition and innovation and assesses their economic, social, and environmental impact using a mixed quantitative and qualitative method. The findings of this study suggest that PDOs/PGIs are anchored to the notion of tradition and exhibit an innovative character. Regarding sustainability, a spectrum of successful/moderately successful/'failed' products exist for each sustainability dimension [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between industry structure, aggregate R&D activity, and the pace and quality of the resulting innovation process is currently the subject of a lively debate across NATO in general and even more so among its European members. This paper tackles this issue from a standpoint belonging to the tradition of industrial economics, adapting it to the specific context of the defence sector. This is done with a view to stressing the need of increasing the degree of concentration in order to increase standardization and interoperability of defence systems and facilitate the exploitation of scale economies. In the traditional jargon of industrial organization theory, this amounts to vindicating the Schumpeterian view according to which increasing concentration (eventually all the way up to pure monopoly) monotonically fosters innovation incentives, while mitigating effort duplications affecting large and long-lasting R&D projects. One additional implication, equally relevant, is that the concentration process can indeed be facilitated, in the short to medium term, by systematically resorting to the creation of research joint ventures and/or R&D cartels so as to boost spillover effects and reduce excess investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an analytical framework to examine how various dimensions of proximity between home and host countries could account for the trajectories and specificities of cross-border acquisitions of technology assets (CATAs) conducted by acquirer firms in latecomer economies. As Chinese firms have been increasingly using CATAs as a mean to catch up with their counterparts in advanced economies, we referred to their acquisition records to illustrate the applicability of the proposed framework. Based on a compiled dataset of the number of CATA transactions from 2001 to 2018, this paper examines the effects of various dimensions of proximity on the spatio-temporal patterns of Chinese CATAs using negative binomial regression models. Our findings demonstrate that the difference in governance between China and host countries (institutional proximity), the size of overseas Chinese population in host countries (social proximity), and the value of import from host countries (economic proximity) have significant effects on the propensity of Chinese firms to engage in CATAs. Physical distance and cultural gap between China and host countries, however, have no significant impact on CATAs. Further examination of the results reveals that Chinese firms tend to acquire target firms outright in culturally distant host countries to reduce the risk of their overseas acquisition in CATAs. In addition, we also found that there is a dynamic relationship between different dimensions of proximity and CATAs: from the relative importance of economic proximity between 2001 and 2012 to the rising influence of social and institutional proximity between 2013 and 2018 on CATAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the effects originated by the massive entrance of foreign capital in the ceramic tile district of Castellon (Spain). Cross-fertilizing multinational acquisitions and industrial districts’ literature, and using mix-methods on a focal case study, our article explores the effects that those multinationals have on districts, and whether the type of multinationals (financially-oriented vs industrial) presents different impacts on a focal industrial district. Our results point out that the massive entrance of foreign capital alters the local system. Overall, positive perceived attitudes are evidenced, along with negative attitudes associated with potential risks of lack of local-embedded ownership and the reduction of local cooperative ties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how leisure organisations developed entrepreneurial practices to enable innovation for the post-covid-19 pandemic era. Whilst entrepreneurship and innovation have been the subject of academic scrutiny in mainstream sport, there is a relative paucity of studies within the broader holistic context of leisure. Semi-structured interviews, conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), provide insights from nine high profile, globally recognised industry practitioners from across the leisure industry including the sport, entertainment, health and fitness, leisure, hospitality, arts and culture, events and tourism sectors. Four key themes emerged from the data including extending capabilities through (i) research and development (R&D) and (ii) digitalisation, and changing culture through (iii) diversification, and (iv) sustainability. These practices were shown to enable leisure organisations to create new customer value within an increasingly competitive environment. The paper concludes with an overview of theoretical and managerial implications and provides approaches for developing more entrepreneurial practices in leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geography undergraduate students have broad academic backgrounds; consequently, teaching statistics can be especially challenging. Unfortunately, there is a lack of up-to-date and geography-specific literature on the pedagogies of statistics instruction on an undergraduate geography degree course. In this paper we detail, discuss, and reflect on a range of innovative attempts to improve engagement and attainment. Many of the examples revolve around technological platforms to enhance student engagement, but also to improve and simplify module management, an under-valued part of delivering a team-taught module. We discuss a variety of quizzing platforms as effective ways of engaging students with content, but, also, as a method of scaffolding teaching, whereby student comprehension is gauged, and content is adapted on-the-fly. We also highlight that use of frequent formative quizzing can increase module engagement through a substantive increase in attendance in an era of lecture recording. We also reflect on differences in engagement pre-and-post pandemic. Overall, we highlight the benefit of incorporating technology into teaching geographical statistics, but caution that this must be on a case-by-case basis and should be used for clear pedagogical reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In France the activities and knowledge concerning the hemp economic sector are historically regulated by an organization dedicated to the paper industry. However, the current context (saturation of the principal outlet and uncertainty regarding the maintenance of the European Union subsidies), makes it necessary to enhance the added value of the hemp crop by diversifying its outlets and by using the whole plant. Also, since the middle of the 1990's the stakeholders of the hemp milieu have important and varied expectations regarding possible new hemp markets, particularly in the fields of plastics processing and the building construction industry. On the basis of data collected during talks with the main stakeholders of the French hemp system, and based on various articles, publications, books, and the Internet, we will describe the organized French hemp system starting from the representation that the stakeholders of the hemp milieu themselves have given. We will begin our analysis with the organized character of this system. Then we will present the data which give information about its dynamics: first the surfaces used for the production and the levels of production, then the forms of organization of the transformation industry, and finally the structuring of research through the publications of patents and the commitment of research groups. doi:10.1300/J237v12n02_05 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Metallurgy is the art and science of working metals, separating them from other substances and removing impurities. This paper is concerned with the Black metallurgists on whose art and science the intensive industries; military bases; and maritime networks of British enslaver colonialism in eighteenth-century Jamaica depended. To engage with these metallurgists on their own terms, the paper brings together oral histories and material culture with archives, newspapers, and published works. By focusing on the practices and priorities of Jamaica's Black metallurgists, the significance and reach of their work begins to be uncovered. Between 1783 and 1784 financier turned ironmaster, Henry Cort, patented a process of rendering scrap metal into valuable bar iron. For this 'discovery', economic and industrial histories have lauded him as one of the revolutionary makers of the modern world. This paper shows how the myth of Henry Cort must be revised with the practices and purposes of Black metallurgists in Jamaica, who developed one of the most important innovations of the industrial revolution for their own reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The affinity for tech-driven solutions of 'smart cities' has been critiqued at length, as has the gender disparity in technology firms. This paper draws these literatures together along with our own data on Australia's innovation economy – one that includes its spaces (incubators, accelerators and co-working hubs), events ('hackathons'), and places (innovation districts). These three components are ubiquitous among smart city strategies across all levels of government. In this paper we examine the gendered landscape of the innovation economy and the strategic urban agenda to which it is tied. The paper draws on data collected through interviews conducted with women entrepreneurs around their experiences in Australia's innovation economy. Drawing from policy documents and further interviews, our discussion mirrors their vignettes with an examination of the three innovation economy components using case studies from Australian smart city planning. In doing so, we illuminate how the gendered experiences of women in the innovation economy are entwined with the smart urbanism imperatives of high-growth, technology-focus, and the attraction of 'talent'. Existing attempts to grapple with discrimination in the innovation economy are shown to reinforce gendered hierarchies, resulting in 'smart cities' designed for men. We argue that the gendered nature of the tech industries that underpin the innovation economy has implications for who the smart city is for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate empirically the effects of technology management on firm innovation, this paper considers the antecedents and multidimensional views of technology management mechanisms on innovation performance in medium- and large-scale manufacturing firms in a developing country, namely Ethiopia. Using simple random sampling, a total of 200 firms were chosen for this study to obtain responses from respondents. Four hypotheses were proposed for testing. Structural equation modelling and cross-sectional design were used to analyze the data using the LISREL 8.80 SIMPLIS program software tool. This study finds technology transfer and technology acquisition have significant positive effects on process innovation, product innovation, and method innovation. Technology process has a significant positive effect on process and method innovation. Technology absorption has a significant positive effect on product innovation. The major implication of this study is that technology management, coupled with appropriate technology management policies and strategies, is an appropriate resource to be used in the organization to enhance firm performance, particularly innovation and creativity. The paper contributes to the literature in that, unlike previous studies that are based on one aspect of technology management practices, this study examined the effects of each different type of technology management dimension on firms' innovation. Thus, this study helps to gain further insights into the effects of technology management practices on firm innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalizing school is a process that comes with challenges. It requires strategic leadership and transformational change to work processes. Nevertheless, some succeed, and it is useful to understand what makes for success. This paper studies the challenges of leading digitalization of education in a city which decided to implement an IT-supported method for teaching literacy in primary schools. The method required transformational change; teachers not only had to learn to use technologies, they also had to review their pedagogy. This study is guided by the Diffusion of Innovation theory and draws on interviews with school principals. We find that the critical factors relate to the communication channel, the social system within and across schools, and the time perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of workplace factors on creativity and innovation in micro and small enterprises (MSEs). The study is based on the componential model of organizational creativity to confirm the determinants of creativity of MSEs in the workplace setting. The study employed a quantitative research approach and a cross-sectional survey design via an adapted questionnaire to gather information from participants. The questionnaire was distributed randomly among 286 respondents from different micro and small enterprises in Woldia city. The results revealed that organizational encouragement, supervisor support, sufficient resources, and absence of organizational impediments are statistically significant and positively related to MSEs' creativity and innovation; however, challenging work is statistically significant and negatively associated with creativity and innovation. The remaining variables, workgroup support and job autonomy have no statistically significant effect on MSEs' creativity and innovation. This study is significant in that it enables managers to understand that creativity and innovation success depend on many interrelated variables in the workplace, which must be considered in establishing strategies that encourage and recognize creativity and innovation in micro and small enterprises. This paper contributes to the thin scholarly literature on creativity and innovation in MSEs' workplace settings by investigating the influence of workplace factors on creativity and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how one large police agency entered into a public-private partnership with a private security firm to supplement police power and presence in two diverse, high-crime neighborhoods. Using a quasi-experimental design, the researchers found road patrol in marked security vehicles produced significant decreases in Part I and II crimes in the pre-and post-implementation periods. Further, surveys of residents revealed that after the completion of the project, citizens had more positive perceptions of the police, believed that crime had declined, and reported lower fear of crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several policies were designed during the COVID-19 pandemic to control the virus from spreading. However, little is known about the nature of the designed policies and how the citizens lived with the designed policies in Ghana. This paper attempts a retrospective exploratory account of the COVID-19 policies in Ghana through an amalgamation lens of design matrix and activity theory from 15 March to 10 July 2020. The population for the study was the COVID-19 policies adopted by Ghana. Out of 16 countries in West Africa with COVID-19 cases, Ghana was selected due to the online availability of its COVID-19 policies and the fact that the policies were in English. Content analysis was used to gather data on Ghana COVID-19 policies and innovative scenarios used for living with the designed policies. The results show that the designed policies adopted a top down approach and were difficult for the citizens to live with but most were adjusted later, which triggered social and economic challenges for the citizens and were to some extent mitigated by the government and the citizens through innovations. Therefore, the government should leverage ideas from the citizens and engage social designers in policy design through the proposed hybrid-designed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an ongoing research study funded by UKRI to map India's creative industries. Using an ecosystem framework, it has focused on strategy/policy; tangible and intangible infrastructure; funding and investment to understand innovation drivers and barriers across nine sub-sector value chains. The research established there is no one creative industries policy. Responsibility is split across 16 government ministries and 28 states. Much of India's economy is informal, with limited data on policy effects. Nevertheless, four important policies are shaping the creative industries landscape, supplemented by investment from global brands into textiles, media and advertising. These are driving innovation and design for social and ecological sustainability. At the time of writing the study is undertaking deep dives into CreaTec, Design for sustainability in fashion and textiles, and emerging geographic concentrations. It has identified a distinctive focus on how supply chains might inform UK circular fashion and media production policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities are increasingly considered as crucial actors for innovation and regional development through university-industry collaborations. Extant research suggests that the impact of knowledge transfer is largely related to the multi-dimensional proximities between universities and knowledge recipients. However, majority of them approached the issue of proximity by treating collaborations between universities and their industrial partners as geographically static. Our case study looks at one Chinese research university which adopted an innovative outreach solution by setting up off-campus institutional arrangements to mitigate the problem caused by the geographical constraint, exploring how such entrepreneurial effort can pose an impact on the various dimensions of proximity. By doing so, this paper aims to enrich the knowledge of university entrepreneurship, elucidate the dynamic nature of proximity in the context of university-industry collaborations and draw practical implications for the promotion of such collaborations at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of innovation performance and government support schemes on cost efficiency of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Financial and technical assistances are two different public instruments used to correct market failure and facilitate efficient innovation through lowering the research and development (R&D) expenditures. Although large and small firms innovate in different ways, so far limited empirical evidence has been reported with respect to the effectiveness of innovation activities and public instruments for SMEs. Using stochastic frontier approach to estimate firm efficiency scores, we find that firms with new product innovation are associated with higher efficiency, but firms with introduced actions of existing product improvement, technology innovation, and new product lines are unable to achieve a higher efficiency level compared to their counterparts. Furthermore, the results suggest that government financial assistances used alone or with technical assistances are neither able to help firms to improve efficiency, nor to reduce the cost of SMEs' innovation activities. This suggests that public instruments may have limited usefulness for SMEs in Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to the study of agency in regional development first by elaborating a typology of organizational- and system-level agency constellations in regions. Second, the paper outlines the main individual and collective assets which influence the vigour and sophistication of organizational- and system-level agency and by specifying the main drivers upon which the exertion of usually more scarce system-level agency is contingent. Empirically, via 30 in-depth interviews, the role of agency is studied in a region with multiple disadvantages. Nevertheless, innovative endogenous companies exist in this region, and we examined their compensation and exploitation strategies aimed at eluding unfavourable regional assets and almost-missing system-level agency. Finally, we outline several potential avenues for transformation in the case study’s region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]