Is newest always best? Firm-level evidence to challenge a focus on high-capability technological (product or process) innovation

Drivers of productivity in Vietnamese SMEs: the role of management standards and innovation

“…Most of them are micro and small enterprises, not working on the technology frontier, and their process of learning is more related to activities such as imitation, adaptation, and mastery of technologies developed somewhere else. The innovation outcomes are not likely to be generated through R&D departments, and tend to be less radical and more incremental in nature (Bogliacino et al 2012;O'Brien 2016;Zanello et al 2016). In response to the weaker role played by 'traditional' technology-related and technological innovation-related variables, a broader set of explanatory factors should be included in productivity analyses for SMEs, including non-technological innovations and organizational change (OECD 2005), which encompass both organizational learning and improvements in operational and management practices (Bloom and Van Reenen 2010;Gunday et al 2011;Camisón and Villar-López 2014).…”

“…However, the observed relationship between technological innovation and firm productivity in developing countries has not always been in line with findings from advanced economies, presenting a lower than expected effect of technological innovation on firmlevel productivity (Miguel Benavente 2006;Goedhuys, Janz, and Mohnen 2008;Aboal and Garda 2016 for services). Alternative innovation strategies related to the improvement of organizational practices and managerial styles have been gaining attention in empirical studies, reflecting an increased interest for a broader set of innovation capabilities beyond R&D activities (O'Brien 2016). In this respect, Van Reenen (2007, 2010) showed that a majority of firms in developing and emerging countries indeed suffer from poor management, with associated low levels of productivity.…”

An Assessment of the Innovativeness of Firms in Nigeria’s Petroleum Sector

“…Of course, studies of management innovation confirm its significant impact on firms' financial performance [36]. Furthermore, technological innovativeness entails substantial in-house development and outputs that are characterised by higher degrees of uniqueness [56].…”

Nuove strategie per esplorare il campo emergente delle competenze digitali informali e per il mondo del lavoro 4.0

“…Gli stessi studi sull'impatto della Ricerca e Sviluppo nel mondo produttivo e aziendale mostrano come non sempre le innovazioni provenienti dai grandi centri di ricerca e sviluppo riescano poi a penetrare nei micro-contesti, delle piccole e medie aziende, e come, allo stesso tempo, non sempre le innovazioni micro, soprattutto relative ai processi più che ai prodotti, che spesso si producono nei contesti di lavoro, vengono codificate in termini di competenze e formalizzate, riuscendo a produrre in tal modo disseminazione e contaminazione innovativa. L'analisi delle competenze, quindi, pare non cogliere o non adattarsi perfettamente alle nuove forme di artigianato e di innovazione, anche digitale, che permeano le culture organizzative (O'Brien, 2016). Anche in questo caso, si auspicano approcci di analisi in grado di integrare modelli top-down di competenza, definiti e standardizzati, utili soprattutto alla certificazione di livelli riconosciuti e condivisi, con modelli di analisi bottom-up, in grado ovvero di costruire un concetto generativo di competenza, che ingloba le trasformazioni quotidiane, le direzioni oblique, i germi di innovazione.…”