Scientific Blog
Ever wonder about the latest research in innovation management? Read on.
New products co-developed with universities are more attractive to consumers (under certain circumstances)
Consumers appear to be more positively predisposed to new products that are in some form co-developed between industry (companies) and universities. In a set of studies with consumers in Germany, US, and UK, the authors of this Journal of Marketing article find that collaborating with a university confers a sense of “scientific legitimacy” onto the commercial firm launching the new product. In turn, consumers find the new product more attractive. This works particularly well if the new product is more high tech and consumers hold a stronger belief in science.
Read the full article: Maier, L., Schreier, M., Baccarella, C. V., & Voigt, K.-I. (2024). University Knowledge Inside: How and When University–Industry Collaborations Make New Products More Attractive to Consumers. Journal of Marketing, 88(2), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429231185313
Posted May 2024
Planning the next surprise to innovate?
How to deliberately create surprises that lead to unexpected opportunities and valuable discoveries is not always easy. This article explains serendipity and how, why and when organizations might leverage the value of making surprising and valuable discoveries (catalysts of innovations). The author suggests that making valuable discoveries requires three necessary conditions: agency (human-driven action), surprise (perception of something unexpected) and value (relative worth for someone). Does your organization support these conditions?
Read the full article: Busch, C. (2022). Towards a theory of serendipity: A systematic review and conceptualization. Journal of Management Studies, 61(3), 1110-1151https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/joms.12890
Posted May 2024
Not in the limelight: Pharmacist portrayals are surprisingly lacking in consumer-facing pharmacy magazines
Ever wondered how pharmacists are portrayed in one of Germany’s most-read magazines, the Apotheken Umschau? Turns out, pharmacists are not getting as much of the spotlight as doctors or researchers, even though they pay for the magazines to supply them to their customers free of charge. Also interesting: male healthcare professionals are quoted nearly twice as often as female ones, even though Germany’s healthcare system is predominantly female staffed. The authors (led by IIM doctoral candidate Alessandra Gessl) suggest that giving pharmacists more attention in this consumer magazine could help patients understand pharmacists’ expertise better and use their expanding services more effectively.
Read the full article: Gessl, A. S., Brodtka, N., Zhao, J., Gessl, N. (2024). Analyzing pharmacist representation in public-facing health media: Insights and implications. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 20(3), 353-362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2023.12.007
Posted May 2024
Do firms that talk about social value also create it?
Firms often talk about the strategic importance of creating social in additional to financial value. Yet, it is unclear what a strategic orientation towards social value creation entails and whether it differentiates firms in terms of their social-value related performance. Recent work by IIM researchers provides a conceptualization of Strategic Social Value Orientation consisting of three behavioral (leading the business with purpose, support of stakeholders, focus on consequences) and one shared belief (mutuality) components. Utilizing a novel linguistic, content-analytic measure of Strategic Social Value Orientation, the research analyzes annual letters to shareholders and sustainability ratings across 1580 firm-year observations, indicating that firms with a stronger Strategic Social Value Orientation show greater sustainability performance. The article explores commensurability of Strategic Social Value Orientation with related sustainability orientations, suggesting that future research prioritize more fine-grained assessments of social value and sustainability strategies and performance.
Read the full article: Marcelo F. de la Cruz, Jelena Spanjol, & Theresa Doppstadt (2024). Strategic social value orientation and sustainability performance: A commensuration perspective. Organization Studies, online first.
Posted April 2024
Leadership of innovation teams is more complex than you thought
Recent work by Craig L. Pearce (Pennsylvania State University) and Daan van Knippenberg (Rice University) published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management highlights the special leadership needs and dynamics of innovation teams. To get the best idea developed and implemented, Pearce and van Knippenberg argue that “moderated paradoxical leadership” is needed, delivering effective vertical and shared leadership over the long run and taking into account the different needs of teams as the innovation process unfolds.
Read the full article: Pearce, Craig L., & van Knippenberg, Daan (2023). Moderated paradoxical leadership: Resolving the innovation team leadership conundrum. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 41(1): 3–11.https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12713
Posted April 2024
Mind your words!
Corporate accelerators are designed to offer venture founders support to advance business models and market activities. Yet, expectations conveyed discursively by accelerator managers can sometimes stifle innovative ideas, as founds find themselves possibly converging into dominant models of entrepreneurship. Read more about how this happens.
Read the full article: Skade, Lorenzo, Matthias Wenzel, & Jochen Koch (2023).“Do as we Say and You'll Be Successful”: Mundane Power in Corporate Entrepreneurship. . Journal of Product Innovation Management, online first. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12711
Posted April 2024