Abstract

This research project developed a framework for assessing digital transformation (DT) maturity in large government-owned corporations (GOCs), focusing on integrating building information modelling (BIM), digital engineering (DE) practices, value of information, data integration aspects, and critical information management competencies, relating to asset management, asset delivery, and asset performance. Recognising DT’s strategic importance in asset lifecycle management, researchers created a practical DT maturity assessment tool applied to an Australian GOC. The framework and Excel assessment tool outline DT maturity across seven categories and 56 indicators, using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to rank indicators based on expert input. The tool enables straightforward data input and DT maturity evaluation, helping organisations understand their current DT status and set improvement targets. Workshops with DT professionals validated the tool’s effectiveness through a case study, offering insights into DT maturity levels and a roadmap for technological integration and data-driven decision-making. The research highlights DT’s role in enhancing efficiency, innovation, and safety, emphasising the need for strategic alignment with organisational objectives.

Introduction

The building and infrastructure industries are gradually transitioning towards building information modelling (BIM) as an object-based digital representation of an asset’s physical and functional characteristics [1], [2] and digital engineering (DE) practices to enable more productive methods of planning, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining assets, using digital processes [3]. As detailed later in the paper, “digital” encompasses approaches, tools and technologies such as BIM and DE together with data science, the Internet of Things (IoT), and AI solutions integrated to digitise assets throughout the lifecycle. Asset owners recognise the importance of digital transformation (DT) in delivering and managing assets [4], as it offers many benefits throughout the asset lifecycle and can enhance efficiency, value for money, productivity, innovation, and safety.

1.1. DT of large infrastructure asset ownersGovernments and government-owned corporations (GOCs) are typically owners and operators of large assets, such as buildings, infrastructure, and other asset holdings across the spectrum of services. Governments and industries must transition from ‘digital by exception’ towards ‘digital by default’ [5], [6]. The infrastructure sector should adopt an evidence-based approach to infrastructure planning, delivery, and operations, including BIM, DE, embedded sensors, and digital asset management [7]. DT offers significant potential value and benefits to government agencies that manage assets across the whole-of-asset lifecycle. DT can assist in strategic investing and partnering with local governments and industry to deliver more benefits, including [8]:

Conclusion

The dynamic evolution of the building and infrastructure sectors towards digitalised practices underscores the growing importance of asset owners engaging in comprehensive DT. This research project has developed a multifaceted framework for assessing DT maturity tailored to the needs of large GOCs.

The existing assessment tools and methods have been reviewed for suitability in assessing the DT in whole-of-life asset owner organisations. The reviewed tools offer varying assessment scopes, including a capability assessment, maturity assessment, and benchmarking. The need and potential benefit of a new maturity assessment tool that would balance assessment accuracy and completion efficiency were established based on the shortcomings and limitations of existing DT maturity tools and methods. The key contributions of the new DT maturity assessment framework and tool developed by the research team include (i) a holistic view on the assessment of how well organisations use data and digital solutions, focusing on BIM capabilities, the value of information, data integration aspects, components of the smart city concept and critical information management competencies; (ii) an evidence-based scoring approach including assigning weight to various assessment indicators based on their importance to ensure the accuracy of the assessment; (iii) a multiperspective assessment allowing for more accurate organisation-wide analysis; (iv) short-term and long-term recommendations based on the current and target levels gap to facilitate performance improvement while realising the benefits and value of getting to each maturity level.

Abstract

     Green innovation is an essential and burning topic for environmental and organizational performance. Therefore, this research aims to examine the effect of green innovation on environmental performance, which leads to organizational performance. Another objective is to measure the impact of two dimensions of green innovation, such as green process & green product measures, on green innovation. The second prime aim of this research is to evaluate the moderation of management commitment & human resource practices in an association between green innovation and organizational & environmental performance. A total of 320 employees provided their perspectives on a self-administrated questionnaire from the textile industry of Pakistan. We have employed SEM-based multivariate modeling to examine the data. This research has measured the reflective indicators measurement model through confirmatory factor analysis, an obvious choice of structural equation modeling to examine observed and unobserved variables and indicators using PLS-SEM (partial least square-structural equation modeling). The research findings reveal a positive & significant effect of product & process innovation on green innovation. Further, green innovation significantly impacts environmental and organizational performance. A two-way interaction (moderation) of human resource practices & green innovation does not have a cogent moderating effect on organizational & environmental performance. However, management commitment has a significant moderation between green innovation & organizational performance. A three-way interaction (moderated moderation) model finds a substantial effect on organizational attainment but an insignificant impact on environmental performance. The research outcomes significantly contribute and suggest that practitioners and policymakers must institutionalize green innovation practices in their organizations to enhance their organizational and environmental performance. HR practitioners play a vibrant role in creating green norms and organizational culture. The study findings also suggest that management commitment to green innovation advocates organization-level transformations toward adopting green practices.

Introduction

     With the advent of technology and scientific advancements, the world has provided immense exposure to artificial resources, making life leisurely. However, artificial resource opulence has come at the cost of sustainability and the environment. The world has thus been facing issues with balance acquisition between sustainable usage of resources and economic development [1,2]. Managing both have been a great concern for the economies as one comes at an expense and tradeoff. Researchers have observed that economic growth and sustainability cannot go together [3,4]. Green growth and general innovation are well recognized for their interrelationship [5]. It is essential to observe that national economic development is established through soaring industrial activities [6]. In this essence, Segerstrom [7] validated through his proposed model that firm-level innovations immensely support economic growth. Green innovation is beneficial to prevent the environment from pollution, help in recycling waste, and could also save non-biodegradable energy [8,9]. Moreover, green technologies could achieve sustainable development [10,11]. In order to implement and achieve the target of green innovativeness, firms need to adopt teamwork within their organizational ecosystems (Muisyo et al., 2022). The said process can be run by key parameters such as the organizations’ access to large-scale data, the commitment of the management, and proper usage of human reserves [12,13], among other considerations. The outcomes demonstrated that firms are enticed to accept green innovation practices when internally and externally motivated organizations. Internal motives combine management’s commitment and supplier’s partnership, whereas external motives are regulations and demand pressures from customers. Thus, there is a direct relationship between the two [14]; (Parmar et al., 2022). Organizations can enhance their performance through green innovation as green practices guide them to devise strategies that can help them use fewer resources, reduce the chances of harm, and create a carbon footprint in the organization [15]. The green revolution is a unique strategy that permits organizations to create new techniques and systems that help organizations enhance their performance [16,17].

Conclusion 

     This study evaluated the connotation between green product & process innovations and green innovation. Moreover, the study examined the impact of green innovation in affiliation with organizational & environmental attainment. The study’s findings explored all the hypotheses devised to meet study objectives. Moderation effects of management commitment towards greening and green human resource practices were also examined between the primary relationship. Primary responses were obtained from the mid-career and upper management of the textile sector of Pakistan. This research revealed that product & process innovations have a cogent and affirmative effect on green innovation. The findings further demonstrated that green innovation exerted an affirmative and cogent effect on organizational & environmental performance. Thus, the senior management should seriously consider green innovation projects to increase the firm’s environmental performance and the long run, sustainable competitive growth. While evaluating the moderating effect of HR practices on environmental attainment, the findings are not supported.

Abstract

     This paper focuses on the relation between business innovation modes and environmental innovation. Over time firms have recognized the importance of prioritizing innovation to gain competitive advantages in open markets. Yet, in more recent times with the more recent international agreements on environmental sustainability (rounds in Doha in 2004; Copenhagen in 2009; Paris in 2016; and Glasgow in 2021), innovation needs to be guided through new boundaries and requirements that individual businesses and the business system as a whole face. One of these boundaries is nature and its resources which require significant protection as part of the international priority agenda on climate change agreed by most countries with the 2016 Paris Agreement on the Environment and recently confirmed with COP26. As firms are found to adopt alternative archetypical strategies of innovation, some science-driven (STI innovation mode) and others practice-driven (DUI innovation mode), we investigate whether any of these strategic modes is beneficial in relation to the capacity of the firms to produce eco-innovations, and which one is more beneficial in relation to which type of eco-innovation (e.g. technological and non-technological innovation). This analysis is seen in relation to the size of the firms as SMEs typically rely on practice and interactive-based innovation activities (DUI mode). This may help design environment protection-orientated policies that focus on specific drivers, thus making policy action efficient and effective. The analysis is based on the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) database for European countries. Our findings support the view that both STI and DUI drivers support eco-innovation through technological nuances that work also in the specific case of SME environmental innovation.

Introduction

     Environmental protection and sustainability have become a priority across the world economy from the Bruntland Report (WCED, 1987) and Rio de Janeiro earth summit in 1992 and the following international agreements in Kyoto, Doha, Copenhagen up to the recent Paris Agreement in 2016 and COP26 in Glasgow. Environmental protection and the control of climate change have become crucial goals of the United Nations (United Nations, 2021). Simultaneously, innovation has become a clear priority for economic development as it represents the key driver for competitiveness in the current globalized markets (Hollanders et al., 2009; Edler and Fagerberg, 2017). However, innovation and environmental sustainability do not necessarily go hand in hand. The “weak sustainability” approach would entail the possibility to compensate for part of the depleted natural resources for some other form of capital (i.e. human capital or physical capital) within the overall “constant capital rule” (Wall, 2013). This dilemma motivates our work on the relation between firm-level innovation and environmental sustainability. In this study we utilize the “business innovation modes” framework that is derived from the literature on innovation systems (Jensen et al., 2007; Amara et al., 2008; Asheim and Parrilli, 2012) to analyze critical behaviours and strategies of innovation across firms that belong to specific production and innovation systems. We explore whether the two archetypical business innovation modes (science and technology based or STI, and innovation based on learning-by-doing, by-using and by-interacting or DUI) are critical for environmental innovation and to what extent (see Jensen et al., 2007; Parrilli et al., 2020). In addition, we analyze whether the behaviour of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) differs from the general trend and to what extent. This evidence can help identify policy actions that might have an impact on eco-innovation across SME.

Conclusions and discussion

5.1. Main findings

     Overall, our analysis produces relevant findings in relation to the impact of specific STI and DUI drivers on the eco-innovation practices and performance of all firms and the SMEs in particular. In this study we have identified important eco-innovation patterns across the whole sample of firms and the SMEs. Small variations are visible across different firm sizes. One of the main findings is about the predominance of technological eco-innovation across firms, and particularly process eco-innovation that is practiced by around 50% of the SMEs. Simultaneously, product eco-innovation is practiced by around 40% of the SMEs. In relation to the modes of innovation there is still a significant percentage of firms that do not adopt any innovation mode (20% across the whole sample and 22% across SMEs). A tiny percentage adopts the STI innovation mode (9%) while the expected majority adopts the DUI mode (32% across SMEs). A very interesting outcome however is that a significant proportion of firms and SMEs are already implementing the STI&DUI mode together (36% of SMEs). In the econometric analysis this combined mode is the most effective across all types of innovation output. These findings show the yet extreme heterogeneity of firm/SME behavior in relation to the new environmental objectives set by the Paris 2016 and COP26 Agreements on Climate Change 2016, and the United Nations Development Goals (Daddi et al., 2012; Marin et al., 2015; Del Rio et al., 2017).

Abstract
Innovating manufacturing systems can substantially support a sustainable transformation of value creation across the industry towards higher sustainability maturity levels. The research presents a novel systems engineering approach for innovating manufacturing systems with a focus on sustainability. The systems engineering approach aims at supporting manufacturing companies in realizing sustainable innovations. It allows companies to cope with current and future global challenges while maintaining and improving their competitiveness. The concepts of integrated values and global innovation pathways set the research’s scope and practical relevance. A narrative literature review of the earlier and later phase of the sustainable-oriented innovation process is presented. The systems engineering approach for creating sustainable manufacturing innovations with a defined macro and micro cycle is introduced. The macro cycle determines the important design phases for the life cycle of the innovation while the micro cycle provides a process for finding sustainable solutions. A case study grounded on a start-up that developed an innovative wind turbine tower system is introduced for verifying, validating, and evaluating the proposed systems engineering approach within the application field of manufacturing large-scale products.

Introduction
The reactions of the global community to recent shocks, such as the Corona pandemic, droughts in Europe, or the war in Ukraine, demonstrate that the global community is insufficiently prepared both individually and collectively for disasters on a global scale. Among the most crucial short-term risks are, according to the World Economic Forum, crises in employment and livelihood, widespread youth disillusionment, digital inequality, economic stagnation, human-made environmental degradation, erosion of societal cohesion, and acts of violence (World Economic Forum , The Global Risks Report, 2021). These risks translate into long-term global challenges for the global community.

Against this backdrop of intensifying global challenges, manufacturing companies continue to apply individual business models within globalized value creation networks, i.e., the formation of inter-organizational cooperation to create value, often through technological advancements. Competitiveness in global markets is a major tenet of these networks with a focus on economic objectives, often without considering missed or detrimental environmental or social values. The concept of value must radically change for business activities in early and newly industrialized countries with the potential for establishing more sustainable practices that incorporated profit with social well-being and environmental stewardship (Neace, 1999; Cezarino et al., 2021). Value creation of companies needs to shift towards a modern paradigm with an emphasis on sustainable development and community resilience (Koliou et al., 2020; Neumann et al., 2021).

Conclusions

The research presented a novel systems engineering approach for creating sustainable innovations in manufacturing systems. The approach aims at supporting manufacturing companies in coping with the global challenges while maintaining and improving the competitiveness of the companies’ value creation. Against this backdrop, the research paper first discussed the concept of integrated values and global pathways of innovation for setting the scope and practical relevance of the research. Subsequently, the state-of-the-art based on a literature review for the earlier and later phase of the sustainable-oriented innovation process was described, and the resulting research gap, contribution, and novelty was specified. Then, the novel systems engineering approach for creating sustainable innovations in manufacturing systems, based on a specific macro and micro cycle was explained. The macro cycle determines the important design phases for the life cycle of the innovation while the micro cycle provides a process for finding sustainable solutions during the design process. For this purpose, the micro cycle utilizes specific sustainability principles which have been derived from the idea of integrated values and global pathways of innovation. A case study based on an innovative wind turbine tower system was introduced to verify, validate, and evaluate the proposed systems engineering approach. Eventually, the principal efficacy and limitations of the research were discussed taking into consideration the findings of the case study.

Abstract

The development and diffusion of sustainable innovations are of interest to various public and private sector actors. The diffusion of sustainable innovations into value networks facilitates and is facilitated by the change of markets towards sustainability; however, this interaction needs further investigation. We examine how combinations of value network actors’ intentions and activities affect market change for a sustainable innovation We empirically explore market change related to introducing bioplastics into plastic food packaging value networks. We increase the understanding of market change for a sustainable innovation by showing how not only the actors with direct intentions to support the innovation but actors and activities indirectly related to the sustainable innovation contribute to market change. Such indirectly supportive activities focus on broader sustainability aims and can, for example, change market representations, practices, and norms in favor of the sustainable innovation. We propose sustainability layers to understand the diverse sustainability focuses of actors and their relation to the market change in question. Specifically, we contribute to market change literature by broadening the examination scope beyond the most active actors driving market change for an innovation.

Introduction

Sustainable development and the need to protect the possibilities of the present and future generations to meet their needs have created a great societal interest in supporting the development and diffusion of sustainable innovations. Such innovations, including products, services, processes, and organizational and marketing methods, seek remarkable sustainability impacts (Aka, 2019). Sustainable innovations are complex and uncertain due to their systemic and multipurpose nature (Pellegrini, Annunziata, Rizzi, & Frey, 2019), and they engage different stakeholders (Longoni & Cagliano, 2018). Even though involving such stakeholders is seen as essential to promote sustainable innovations (Ayuso, Rodriguez, Garcia-Castro, & Ariño, 2011), these actors may have differing views and interests regarding value created through the innovation, as well as on the division of risks and responsibilities (Vleter, Bitzer, Bocken, & Kemp, 2020).

Conclusions

5-1- Theoretical contributions
The present study has examined how the value network actors’ intentions and activities affect the market change for a sustainable innovation. To answer the research question, the study first identified the relevant actors, their primary intentions (offensive or defensive) regarding the market change, and ten major activities contributing to the market change. It was analyzed whether the activities are driven by individual or collective, and present or future intentions. Then, the market changes resulting from those activities were presented.

This study offers three significant contributions to the existing literature. First, the study contributes to research on market change (Baker et al., 2019; Flaig et al., 2021; Kindström et al., 2018; Kjellberg et al., 2015; Nenonen et al., 2021; Ottosson et al., 2020) by revealing the importance of actors and activities that only indirectly support the market change for the sustainable innovation. The present study identified that there might not be many actors in the value network whose primary intention is to directly support the market change for a particular sustainable innovation. However, many actors indirectly support the market change by focusing on broader sustainability aspects than those represented by the specific innovation. This supports our study’s basic assumption that it is important to look beyond the “active shapers” with a direct link to the innovation. Also, the study revealed that indirectly supportive activities create various kinds of market changes, quite similar to changes created by directly supportive activities. The set of only indirectly supportive activities is small (educating and changing offerings and operations to be more sustainable) but crucial for changing the market in favor of the sustainable innovation. Especially we identified these indirectly supportive activities to change practices, norms, and representations towards sustainability, thus also supporting the market change for the sustainable innovation. It has been noted that networks of varied actors and activities can contribute to the commercialization of innovations (Aarikka-Stenroos, Sandberg, & Lehtimäki, 2014). We extend that examination to the sustainable innovation context and look at market change.

Abstract

Purpose

     Sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) is a change in the way a firm operates in order to create positive impacts or to reduce negative consequences for the environment and the society. The aim of this paper is to explain what pathways a firm can take when it implements a sustainable business innovation process in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Design/methodology/approach

     The article starts with the analysis of the existing literature about BMI and SBMI in order to extrapolate the main elements of these topics.

Findings

     Thanks to the combined information from academic and nonacademic sources, the study proposes a new framework. It is divided into three sectors: value proposition, value capture delivery and value capture according to the main studies about the business model.

Research limitations/implications

     Regarding theoretical implications, this study contributes to developing a theory of both BMI and sustainable innovation. Indeed it helps in the understanding of the dynamic vision about how the business model changes in order to incorporate triple sustainability.

Practical implications

     From a practical view, the paper can serve as a guideline for corporate reorganization.

Originality/value

     The new framework differs from some recent academic efforts first of all for its theoretical characteristics: BMI construct and not business model concept is the core of the framework. The business model represents the subject of innovation, not its vehicle. Another unique aspect that can be derived from the approach adopted is that it links theoretical with practical sources.

Introduction

     Business model innovation is a widely known topic and one of the most recurring keywords in managerial studies. It deals with a new way to do business aiming at prosperity in a dynamic environment through the reconceptualization of the underlying logic behind the value creation, capture and delivery (Richardson, 2008; Teece, 2010).

     Firms increasingly need to innovate by modifying their business model by initiating changes, improvements and replacements in various organizational elements (Mitchell & Coles, 2003). It is relevant to understand these elements to facilitate the analysis of organizational processes and planning of transformation from one business model to another and to increase the firm’s resilience and the probability of success (Geissdoerfer, Vladimirova, & Evans, 2018).

Discussion and conclusion

     Subject-matter experts consider the SBMI a complex process that changes the core elements of the firm’s logic to create new value for all their stakeholders.

     The radicality of organizational change makes the adoption of a sustainable orientation easier for new entrants (start-up) and riskier for incumbents – the existing companies that have been operating their business for a long time. Indeed, the start-up does not transform an existing business model but creates new ones without a history to respect or a tradition to maintain. At the same time, incumbents’ firms must start revising their current business model. The ambiguity of the situation also can bring uncertainty.

Abstract

Although the importance of fostering organizational creativity and open innovation is becoming more widely acknowledged, there are still few empirical evidence on the impact of creativity and innovation on enhancing SMEs performance. Moreover, previous study argued that the effect of creativity and innovation is still inconclusive, especially in SMEs. SMEs sometimes perceive that research and development is a costly activity and it doesn’t view as the activity that can directly improve performance. This study aims to examine the effect of organizational creativity and open innovation on SMEs performance. Data used in this study was collected from 206 SMEs located in several regions of Indonesia. The collected data then being analysed using PLS-SEM and this study found that all the hypotheses constructed were accepted. The findings indicate that organizational creativity and open innovation are significantly and positively influence SMEs performance. On the other hand, this study also treats organizational creativity as a second order variable that is formed from a combination of individual creativity, group creativity, internal environment, and knowledge creation where most study only consider individual and group creativity as aspect that formed organizational creativity. The result of this study provide evidence that organizational creativity that is formed by those four aspects has the ability to directly improve SME performance. Theoretically, this study contribute to the debate on how organizational creativity and open innovation can directly improve SMEs performance. Practically, this study provides insight to SMEs manager regarding how organizational creativity and open innovation can contribute to SMEs performance.

Introduction

Every organization will try to obtain optimal performance to achieve organizational goals while being superior to its competitors (Pap et al., 2022). However. the performance of an organization is determined by its ability to innovate both in producing a product or service (Rumanti et al., 2021). Organizational performance is a concept that includes all activities within an organization or company, both those that produce products and services. Organizational performance refers to the implementation of the organization’s vision, mission, goals, and activities (Pap et al., 2022) which are supported by the concept of innovation, one of which is open innovation (Lopes et al., 2022). Innovation is one of the drivers in the organization in an effort to accelerate optimal organizational performance while at the same time reflecting the main goals of the organization (Rumanti et al., 2021). Organizational performance is a key construct in management research and has received a lot of attention from interested parties in an organization (Scaliza et al., 2022, Rumanti et al., 2022, Singh et al., 2021). Organizational performance is also supported by the existence of an innovation related to the creation of new services and products, especially innovation that is open, namely open innovation. Organizational performance can be influenced by the organization’s ability to innovate, especially from external parties (open innovation) (Rumanti et al., 2022).

Conclusion

6.1. Main result
This study was able to identify organizational performance through organizational creativity and open innovation. Each plays a role in achieving more optimal organizational performance and supporting organizational goals. Through the research model produced in this study, the relationship and influence of organizational creativity and open innovation will be identified on organizational performance as well as the analysis and implications of both implications for relevant theory or science as well as implications for managerial activities within the organization. The magnitude of the influence of organizational creativity and open innovation on organizational performance will become a reference in evaluating organizational creativity and open innovation processes that will support the performance of Indonesian SMEs. Where construction is studied in the context of SMEs, a sample of 206 SMEs is obtained using a purposive sampling technique. The results of this study provide empirical evidence showing a positive effect of organizational creativity and open innovation on organizational performance. Organizations that prioritize and actively cultivate a creative and innovative culture will likely see increased overall performance. These two main variables have been proven to improve the performance of an organization to reach optimal points in a more challenging business environment. This can be achieved through various means, such as encouraging employee participation in the innovation process, enhancing the individual creativity of employees, and promoting a learning-oriented culture.

Abstract

Introduction

     Innovation and international business are essential to achieve competitive advantages in currently unforeseen business environments. Today’s company seeks innovation in its country of origin and abroad in order to compete globally. Thus, incorporating this concept into international companies’ strategies is a main issue nowadays.

Purpose

     The aim of this systematic study is to improve the current knowledge on the relationship between innovation and international business, as well as identifying innovation tendencies for corporations to acknowledge the opportunities and challenges of this area’s development in the international business context.

Methodology

     Despite the abundance of innovation and international business reviews, joint reviews of both of them cannot be found. This study is the first to combine the scholarly research on both topics with the systematic literature review of academic literature of 28 years, following the PRISMA guidelines and flowchart. A search was carried out in Web of Science database; 847 initial documents were obtained and, after reviewing multiple documents according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria, the results for this research work were reduced to 236 articles.

Results

     The results of this research provide an overview of the knowledge structure of innovation and international business. As the main contribution, the results highlight four themes of investigation within a comprehensive and multidimensional framework: Innovative activities of multinational corporations, Global value chains, Innovation in emerging economies, and Cross-border knowledge. With an international perspective, insights from how to face innovation development in the international business context are presented.

Conclusions

There is a strong relationship between innovation and international business. These four research trends highlight the strategic importance of innovation in the international business field. Finally, the most interesting paths for future research are identified, targeting opportunities for improvement in both areas. This systematic literature review is expected to make significant contributions to both theory and practice in the field of innovation and international business.

Introduction

     Innovation, knowledge and technology are relevant concepts in the international business field [[1]] and both areas are essential to achieve competitive advantages in current business environments [[2]]. Cantwell [[3]] adds that innovation and internationalization processes have been increasingly interlinked as key drivers of development since the first industrial revolution, all the way to today’s information age.

     Innovation is the cornerstone of growth and sustains organizations to counter marketplace fluctuations and prepares them for long-term growth [[4]]. Business model innovation, although it is very difficult to achieve [[5]], can itself be a pathway to competitive advantage if the model is sufficiently differentiated and hard to replicate for incumbents and new entrants alike [[6]]. New models of innovation have encouraged many innovative firms to change the way they search for new ideas, adopting open search strategies that involve the use of a wide range of external actors and sources to help them achieve innovation [[7]].

     The field of international business studies came to prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s with the growth of multinational corporations [[8]]. In this framework, two theoretical models are extremely relevant; on the one hand, gradual internationalization or Uppsala model, according to which internationalization is seen as an incremental process that begins in foreign markets, being in closer proximity to the domestic market in terms of physical distance [[9],[10]] and, on the other hand, born global firms, that is to say, companies that internationalise at or near their founding, on an average period of three years of founding, generating at least twenty five percent of their total sales from foreign countries [[11]]. There is an extensive literature about this issue [12, 13, 14].

Conclusions 

     Nowadays, companies seek innovation in their countries of origin and abroad in order to compete globally. Therefore, innovation is a key factor for entering into international markets. This systematic literature review shows that there is indeed a strong relationship between innovation and international business; four themes of investigation within a comprehensive and multidimensional framework are found: Innovative activities of multinational corporations, Global value chains, Innovation in emerging economies, and Cross-border knowledge. These four research trends highlight the strategic importance of innovation in international business. Nevertheless, even when the number of articles addressing such topics is growing, this research work underlines that there is still a great opportunity for studying the relationship between those concepts. Thus, incorporating innovation into internationalized companies’ strategies is a main issue in current times, even more considering the changing and challenging world that we live in.

Abstract

A robust literature has provided compelling evidence showing how open innovation impacts incumbent firms. However, only a paucity of research has linked open innovation strategies to different types of innovation in startups. This paper fills this gap in the literature by focusing on if, how and why open innovation enhances innovative activity in newly created firms. In particular, the paper examines how the role of both the specific external partner as well as the geographical location of partner matters in how product and process innovation is shaped in startups. The empirical evidence garnered in this paper suggest that not only do startups benefit from open innovation, but also the extent of product innovation and the propensity to innovate new processes in startups are significantly affected by specific external partner and its geographical location. The positive impact of open innovation reflects the heterogeneous effects of knowledge embedded in different partner types and the role that technological, institutional, and competitive arrangements play domestically and internationally in startup innovation. This study provides new light on how and why open innovation benefits not just incumbents but also startups as well.

Introduction

It is important to understand the effects of open innovation for innovation activity in startups. First, the rise of globalization and the growth of new digital technologies, and the evolution of knowledge in the field of engineering, technology and management (Cunningham and Kwakkel, 2011), have contributed to the emergence of open innovation models (Chesbrough, 2006, Chesbrough, 2007; Kafouros et al., 2020) and the rise of inter-firm collaboration and knowledge spillovers (Schilling and Phelps, 2007; Tucci et al., 2016). However, the returns to open innovation differ between startups and incumbent firms (Audretsch and Belitski, 2021). Second, ever-increasing innovation costs and a lack of resources push startups to search for external knowledge collaborators to co-create knowledge together and reduce innovation costs (van Beers and Zand, 2014).

Despite the theoretical underpinning and importance of knowledge collaboration for innovation, the entrepreneurship and management literatures (Tambe et al., 2012; Roper et al., 2017; Knoben and Bakker, 2019) have not identified the impact that knowledge partner type and location may have on a startup.

Conclusions

This study investigated the returns from knowledge collaboration across different partner types and geographical locations for innovation performance in startups. Knowledge collaboration with external partners directly affects the propensity for process innovation and the share of innovation sales. This study provides new insights on open innovation theory for entrepreneurs, by comparing how startups use the knowledge spillover of innovation (Audretsch and Belitski, 2022) across different partner types and locations.

Our findings pave the way for future studies that may address this study’s limitations. Firstly, our study was based on a sample of UK firms. Our findings are contextually limited and may not be generalizable to other countries, particularly developing countries and other developed countries. Future studies can expand the longitudinal dimension of data, aiming for longer lags as well as switching to internationalization vs. de-internationalization of collaboration for startups. Further research is needed to explore the breadth and depth of knowledge collaboration for startups and incumbent firms.

Abstract

     With intensifying competition and increasing dependence on external partners, open innovation has been becoming an inevitable and prevalent strategy to achieve long-term competitive advantage. Considerable research has investigated the benefit of open innovation, the mechanism through which open innovation translates into sustainable competitive advantage have yet been well examined. Drawing on the strategy-competence-competitive advantage framework and the knowledge-based view, this study examines the role of ambidextrous organizational learning in mediating the relationship between open innovation and sustainable competitive advantage as well as the moderating role of knowledge management capability. Based on data collected from 269 Chinese high-tech enterprises in 2021, we found that open innovation contributes to sustainable competitive advantage through enhancing organizational learning including both exploratory and exploitative learning as well as their balance. Moreover, knowledge management capability positively moderates the relationships of open innovation to exploration and exploitation as well as their combination. Research and practical implications are discussed.

Introduction

     As a result of globalization, technological complexity, increased competition and resource scarcity, organizations are changing and adopting a more open, cooperative approach to building their competitive advantage (Barrett et al., 2021; Lewis et al., 2010). Hence, open innovation has been becoming an important concept in both academic research and industrial practice; it refers to “the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively” (Chesbrough, 2006). Compared with closed innovation, open innovation permits firms to explore outside knowledge and to externally exploit existing internal resources to gain a competitive edge (Drechsler and Natter, 2012; Popa et al., 2017). The more a business interacts with other organizations, the higher its chances of acquiring external ideas, capabilities, knowledge, technology and other intangibles, and the greater its chances of successful innovation (Greco et al., 2016). Moreover, the complementarity and collaboration of internal and external innovation resources will gradually improve enterprises’ innate innovation capability, helping them to ultimately form their own core competitiveness (Lichtenthaler, 2011).

Results

Hypothesis testing

     Table 4 shows the descriptive statistics and correlation analysis on all variables. Before the regression analysis, we mean-centered all variables to minimize multicollinearity. After centering, the results revealed that the VIF values of each model ranged from 1.029 to 3.579, and the tolerance was >0.100, implying no serious multicollinearity problem (Kock, 2015). We also analyzed the sample proportion; the sample proportion of balanced learning was 47.584 %, and the sample proportions of “high exploration-low exploitation” and “low exploration-high exploitation” of imbalanced learning were 26.022 % and 26.394 %, respectively, which met the requirements of polynomial regression (Shanock et al., 2010). The empirical regression results of this paper were depicted in Tables 5 and 6. Table 5 showed that open innovation had a significant, positive effect on sustainable competitive advantage (Model 9, β = 0.49, p < 0.001), supporting H1. In addition, open innovation had a significant, positive effect on exploratory learning (Model 1, β = 0.34, p < 0.001), exploitative learning (Model 3, β = 0.47, p < 0.001), OAB (Model 5, β = 0.25, p < 0.001), and OAC (Model 6, β = 0.17, p < 0.05) respectively. It can be seen from Table 6 that exploratory learning (Model 10, β = 0.51, p < 0.001), exploitative learning (Model 11, β = 0.64, p < 0.001), OAB (Model 14, β = 0.22, p < 0.001), and OAC (Model 13, β = 0.10, p < 0.05) had significant, positive effects on sustainable competitive advantage. Thus, we further tested the mediating effect via the SPSS Process V3.3 plugin performing Bootstrap 5000 repeated sampling to test whether the confidence interval at the 95 % level contains 0 (Hayes, 2017). The mediating effect value of exploitative learning was 0.25, and the confidence interval was [0.17, 0.32], thereby supporting H2a. The mediating effect value of exploratory learning was 0.13, and the confidence interval was [0.07, 0.19], thus supporting H2b. The mediating effect value of OAC was 0.01, and the confidence interval was [− 0.01, 0.05], which did not support H3a. The mediating effect value of OAB was 0.02, and the confidence interval was [0.01, 0.05], supporting H3b.

Abstract

     Although research underlines the need for SMEs to innovate their Business Model, they face considerable challenges in exploring external business opportunities and experimenting/developing their available resources in unexpected ways. We posit that one way that SMEs can innovate their Business Model is through exaptation, a discontinuous evolutionary process that allows utilizing and adapting existing resources in new application domains. Using a case study approach, we investigate the case of a SME that has successfully innovated its Business Model through exaptation. We then discuss how three key exaptation processes lead to value creation, delivery and capturing, thus supporting Business Model Innovation in SMEs.

Introduction

     Business Model Innovation (BMI) has been described as “the search for new logics of the firm and new ways to create and capture value for its stakeholders” (Casadesus‐Masanell and Zhu, 2013, p. 464). In this perspective, firms can create and exploit new opportunities linked to their innovative Business Model (BM) by adopting different approaches. Firms might add novel activities through backward or forward integrations, connect activities in a novel way, or modify one or more parties dedicated to any of the activities (Amit and Zott, 2012). For example, firms can choose to alter the set of elementary activities they perform and rely on the resources or technological capabilities of external parties (such as individual, organizations, universities) to develop a new value proposition (Chesbrough, 2007; Saebi and Foss, 2015).

     Researchers underline that BMI is becoming even more important for success than product/service or process innovation (Johnson et al., 2008; Amit and Zott, 2012). However, practitioners have little guidance on how to design innovative BMs (Foss and Saebi, 2017; Teece, 2018). This is particularly true for Small and Medium-Enterprises (SMEs), the main actors in innovation processes and technological development at the local, regional, and even national level (Lee et al., 2012). Accordingly, recent international policies have emphasized the need for SMEs to redefine their BM to sustain and promote their competiveness. In this perspective, BMI is a potentially relevant tool allowing SMEs to resolve the trade-off between innovation costs and benefits, enabling them to create, deliver, and capture new value.

Conclusions

     Prior research has emphasized the pressing challenge for SMEs to exploit, define, and implement an innovative BM to remain competitive. Anecdotal evidence shows that innovative BMs are closely linked to exaptation, observed as an important mechanism to use resources in ways for which they were not originally intended (Dew et al., 2004; Cattani, 2006). This might be particularly fruitful for SMEs that have some difficulties in “thinking outside the box” (Gassmann et al., 2013, p. 2), but at the same time, specific advantages in developing new products and businesses (Vanhaverbeke, 2017). Prior BMI studies have mainly focused on large firms and start-ups, but seldom on SMEs, and to the best of our knowledge, no studies have hitherto focused explicitly on the processes to be implemented to sustain BMI through exaptation in SMEs.

     This study has investigated how SMEs might innovate their BM through exaptation. In analyzing the exaptation process in SMEs, we advance knowledge on how and why exaptation favors BMI. In addition, our study highlights how each stage of exaptation process contributes to BMI by means of value creation, value delivery and value capturing.

Abstract

     Sustainable development requires concerted effort and persistence on various fronts using available resources and technological tools to improve the quality of life. Global sustainability goals are designed to benefit developments in all walks of life of the present and future generations. To attain global sustainability, every country should make best efforts with the available resources and shared means. This paper analyses the case of Saudi Arabia in achieving sustainability through innovations and Information technology in key areas of national development. The contribution of this research is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the key projects undertaken by Saudi Arabia to transform the nation into modernity and prosperity by means of cutting-edge technologies and tools. This study shows that the innovation, science and technology play critical role towards achieving sustainable development. Conclusions of this study can serve as an example to achieve sustainability in other parts of the world.

Introduction

     There are many definitions and interpretations of sustainability. In simple words, sustainability amounts to meeting needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability improves the quality of our lives, protects our ecosystem and preserves natural resources for future generations. Global sustainability defines the conditions under which humans and nature, societies and the biosphere, the world and the Earth can coexist in ways that enable productive harmony, stability and resilience to support present and future generations. The sustainable development goals are aimed at achieving a prosperous future for all. They address the challenge and solve the problems we face, like poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. These are the common global issues although different countries may face additional problems due to the factors associated with their region and society. A critical view of Sustainability developments is presented in [1].

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

     Sustainable development allows every individual, organization and society across the globe to accomplish sustainable goals. Sometimes due to various factors and issues, technologies and inno-vations either do not improve the situation. This may happen due to the absence of an adequate profitable market or lack of adequate infrastructure or coordination among the stakeholders. To overcome these hurdles, in this paper we have argued how successfully the emerging and modern technologies are being used in Saudi Arabia. During the ongoing pandemic, a humanitarian crisis and disaster, use of technological tools have been effectively used. This study shows that the KSA has overcome many obstacles and is marching towards tremendous progress and sustainability in many fields. This has been possible, largely, due to the use of latest technologies. The countries of the regions, especially those in the Middle East and Northern Africa should follow the example of Saudi Arabia.