Supply chain agility has been receiving a lot of attention in recent literature as a way for organizations to become more responsive to change and improve customer service levels. However, agility is typically dealt with qualitatively, and organizations are usually unsure of the steps to take to...

The methods by which small firms overcome the disadvantages of their size to implement innovation on construction projects are examined here through five case studies. It is found that such methods include working with advanced clients, prioritising relationship-building strategies and using...

Innovation has always been an important source of competitive edge and success for organisations. Globalisation, increased competition and the fast pace of technological change all add to the importance of efficient and effective innovation processes in organisations. In recognition of the...

Open innovation is a powerful framework encompassing the generation, capture, and employment of intellectual property at the firm level. We identify three fundamental challenges for firms in applying the concept of open innovation: finding creative ways to exploit internal innovation,...

The promise of customers as an external resource for new-product development (NPD) has been recognized in theory and practice for a long time. Technological progress has increased the interaction between companies and users. Yet the involvement of users in NPD depends on the ability of...

The paper describes findings from an interview study about intellectual property management practices in inter-organisational relationships. A total of 40 companies and public organisations in Finland and in the Netherlands were studied using semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The...

In this paper, we empirically explain how scientific knowledge assimilated from academia affects corporate performance, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry of Japan. We use balanced panel data on 46 pharmaceutical firms in Japan for the period 1992–2005. Then, we introduce a new...

Open innovation through collaboration could be beneficial for various reasons, but participating firms must also consider the strategic consequences of their formation on the supply chain. This study is concerned with how open innovation through inter-firm collaboration and strategic alliances...

"Open innovation" and "external search" for new ideas are central topics in the recent discourse in innovation research. External search helps firms to identify new opportunities for innovation and alleviates the risks of local search. It is widely acknowledged that novel ideas regularly emerge...

Interest in the concept of open innovation (OI) has increased during recent years; yet, this line of inquiry remains limited due to the lack of a more comprehensive conceptual framework. As a first step toward a unifying framework, we provide a critical review of previous research on the...