Conventional wisdom argues that appropriating returns from innovation requires protection mechanisms. However, there will be limits to the effectiveness of formal and informal appropriability mechanisms for innovation performance. Their effectiveness will be contingent on the nature of the knowledge that firms are trying to protect and the openness of their innovation strategy (sharing knowledge while attempting to protect knowledge is known as the 'paradox of openness'). Do these boundary conditions apply to both manufacturing and service firms equally though? Analyzing data from the UK Community Innovation Survey, this study provides evidence for a continuum-from discrete product manufacturing firms, whose products rely heavily on codified, explicit knowledge and for which formal methods are strongly associated with innovation performance, to knowledgeintensive service firms, which tend to rely more on complex tacit knowledge and for which innovation is linked to informal, not formal, appropriability. The findings show that the paradox of openness is a limited problem for service firms. The benefits of collaboration for innovation performance outweigh any reduction in the effectiveness of appropriability. For manufacturers, the benefits of collaboration disappear with high formal appropriability, and thus, discrete product manufacturers, contrary to conventional wisdom, may find it beneficial to reduce collaboration breadth and invest in informal appropriability mechanisms. Knowledge-intensive servitized manufacturers find formal methods effective but only with no or minimal collaboration.
Collaborative practices underlie the creation of innovation yet how and when these practices emerge is not well understood, particularly given the presence of flexible and open workspaces. Based on seven case studies of entrepreneurial Tech/FinTech firms in London, we explore how collaborative spaces lead to collaborative practices, when they do. Our findings suggest the enabling and inhibiting role of interstitial spaces (e.g. informality and spatiality) and identify catalysts in the emergence of collaborative practices in a coworking space. A theoretical and critical contextualisation advances our understanding of how collaborative practices emerge and articulates the conditionality of openness in the form of underlying mechanisms for collaboration and, subsequently (open) innovation outcomes. We discuss implications for future research and management of coworking spaces.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gain insights and explicate how blockchain technology enables trust and traceability building from a real business use case. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a qualitative case study of a leading global French grocery retail firm that has started to integrate blockchain into their supply chain and products. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and secondary data sources. Findings This paper developed a conceptual framework in unboxing the mechanism by which blockchain enables trust and explicating how information flows in a blockchain-based system compared to a traditional one in a real business application scenario through three main elements, namely, system architecture, data recovery and communication. Originality/value Given the upside potential of emerging technologies such as blockchain coupled with the current increasing demand for business use cases, the paper is timely in integrating the business and technological aspects of trust in formulating a firm-level blockchain strategy.
PurposeSustainable entrepreneurs face additional challenges in fundraising. Crowdfunding is emerging as a compelling alternative to traditional sources of capital with a growing body of research outlining its characteristics and discussing mainly its antecedents. Yet little is known about the crowdfunding behaviour of sustainable entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to explore sustainable entrepreneurs' crowdfunding landscape namely the relation between motivation and different crowdfunding types.Design/methodology/approachBased on a unique dataset of French sustainable entrepreneurs, this paper adopts a qualitative case study approach by conducting in-depth interviews with the entrepreneurs. This was complemented by secondary data collected from company websites and crowdfunding platforms.FindingsThis study presents a conceptual framework that outlines and maps the drivers that lead sustainable entrepreneurs to engage with different crowdfunding types (donation, reward, mixed and equity) by unravelling a more granular understanding of the key and condition-based additional drivers within the context of sustainable entrepreneurial crowdfunding.Originality/valueEntrepreneurs are taking advantage of crowdfunding in order to raise funds. This manuscript offers empirical insights into the under-investigated question of what drives sustainable entrepreneurs to engage in crowdfunding and to what ends. This research also adds texture to prior findings about general motivations of entrepreneurs to seek crowdfunding. These insights inform research and practice on sustainable entrepreneurial crowdfunding, and entrepreneurial crowdfunding in general.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.